There are three types of monkeys distributed in Shaanxi, Sichuan golden monkey , macaque and Tibetan monkey . Today we want to tell you about the largest Tibetan monkey. It is not only a species in China, but also the largest monkey in genus . The male weight can reach 20 kilograms and belongs to national second-class protected animal . Their group life and social behavior are very interesting.
The most human-like monkey
The scenic spot "bully" that robbed tourists
The body and limbs of the Tibetan monkey are relatively thick, and their heads are thick and long, and the males have long hair like "beards". At first glance, they look like a small "lion". Compared with other monkeys, Tibetan monkeys have flat, wide and hairy faces, which are the most human-like species among monkeys. The tail is very short, about one-eighth of the body length, so it is also known as hairy short-tailed monkey .
Tibetan monkeys are considered to be the wider monkeys in my country. The southern part of Qinling is the northernmost limit of their distribution. The Micangshan National Nature Reserve in Xixiang, Hanzhong is the main distribution area in our province. Generally speaking, wild animals are afraid of people, but Tibetan monkeys are an exception, especially Tibetan monkeys distributed in Mount Emei, which can be said to be of bad reputation. A pair of long canine teeth and strong strength, often encounters robbing tourists and injuring people, so that the scenic spots have to take various measures to deal with it and minimize the attacks of monkey groups on humans. But the reason is man-made disasters. Human feeding has made them develop the habit of opening their mouths, which has completely abandoned the habit of foraging in the wild. Even after the completion of the road and cableways led to a sharp decrease in tourists passing by on foot, the monkey group migrated collectively to the buses and cableway terminals in high-altitude areas. The hierarchy of
is very strict. The male-female ratio in the
monkey group is close to 1:1. The Tibetan monkey group is also led by the monkey king. In addition to the monkey king, the male monkey is divided into the first-ranked male monkey, the second-ranked male monkey, and the third-ranked male monkey... the elderly, weak, sick and disabled monkeys; the female monkeys are ranked according to their family status, degree of favored by the monkey king, and reproductive ability.
Female individuals are permanent members of the group and live in the birth group throughout their lives. As male individuals grow older, they have to leave their birth groups and migrate to other groups, which is similar to most species of the same macaque. The difference is that the migration time of males in most species of macaque species is generally in the adolescent period before adulthood, while the migration time of male Tibetan monkeys from birth groups is generally delayed until after adulthood, which makes the ratio of male and female in the monkey group close to 1:1.
Socialization through butt lifting and hair care
"building a bridge" to connect young monkeys with feelings
There is an important social behavior in the monkey group. The first one is buttocks, which can be understood as buttocks. One individual walks to the front of another and raises his buttocks for the latter to see. It is a typical etiquette behavior, which mainly occurs between males and females treat males. Generally, male monkeys or females in the lower ranking are always presenting hips to males in the higher ranking to reduce conflicts, indicating goodwill to the other party, or behaviors that often occur after conflicts between individuals occur.
It is easy to understand hair care. One individual uses his fingers or palms to separate and sort out the hair of another individual, and picks out some small particles from the separated hair or exposed skin from time to time and puts them into his mouth to chew it. This is the most common and important behavior in the monkey group. Generally, low-ranking Tibetan monkeys often give high-ranking monkeys hair care. The hair care time is longer, with an average of more than 10 minutes, and the hair care movements are also very serious. On the contrary, although monkeys with high rankings also manage hair for monkeys with low rankings, they take a short time to manage hair and seem perfunctory when raising hair. They are easily interrupted by what happens around the monkey group or by an action of the hair-cursor. Hair care is an important force in maintaining the sexual relationship between male monkeys and female monkeys. It is difficult to see male Tibetan monkeys giving female hair care in the wild, but during mating period, males often take the initiative to cleanse their spouses. Hair management also plays an important role in maintaining the relationship between mother and child. The mother's hair care for infants and monkeys and juveniles is mainly a function of cleaning the body, which is conducive to the healthy growth of offspring.In addition, requesting food, seeking protection, and reconciliation after conflict between individuals in monkey groups will also be achieved through mutual care.
bridge building is a very unique behavior among Tibetan monkeys, mainly occurring between male monkeys, followed by male monkeys and female monkeys. In this behavior, both individuals raise a young monkey at the same time, so that their abdomen face upwards, and then the two individuals lower their heads and lick their abdomen, baring their teeth and making excitement screams. Bridge building behavior is actually to communicate the emotional connection between individuals through the "media" of juvenile corpus. Once the bridge building behavior is successful, the young monkeys are released. It turns out that individuals who build bridges often sit together to keep close or clean.
Attacks fast and reconciliation is also fast. But female Tibetan monkeys will protect their children at all costs. They will inevitably attack or conflict in group life, fighting for food, approaching the female body, protecting children or fighting for the throne. Usually, when there is a conflict between two individuals, other individuals will take the initiative to help the higher-ranking party, but females will always help the party with blood relationship and their own closer. Therefore, conflicts come quickly and go quickly. After all, it is unwise to not admit defeat in the face of absolute power. But there are exceptions. Female Tibetan monkeys will protect their children desperately, even if their opponent is the Monkey King. In a short time after the conflict between
, both sides will conduct friendly reconciliation behaviors, such as hugging, building bridges, etc. Moreover, the frequency of reconciliation between males is not only higher than that of females, but the time required for reconciliation is also shorter than that of female monkeys. It seems that in their world, females love to hold grudges more than males. Sun Lei/Text/Picture
