Tail length variation inMacaca fascicularis andM. mulatta |
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Authors: | Jack Fooden |
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Institution: | (1) Division of Mammals, The Field Museum, Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore Drive, 60605-2496 Chicago, Illinois, U. S. A. |
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Abstract: | Based on collectors' measurements of 1,040 specimens, variation of relative tail length RTL = (tail length/head and body
length) × 100] has been studied inMacaca fascicularis andM. mulatta, two closely related species that replace one another in tropical Asia and subtropical Asia, respectively. RTL usually is
greater than 90 inM. fascicularis and usually is less than 60 inM. mulatta; intermediate values occur in only 3.5% of specimens studied. Within each species, RTL is approximately equal in females
and males. From infancy to adulthood, RTL tends to decline in both species. InM. fascicularis, RTL generally decreases with increasing latitude; inM. mulatta, RTL is approximately constant latitudinally. Where the geographic ranges of these two species meet at ca. 15°N in the Indochinese
Peninsula, a few specimens have been collected in which RTL and dorsal pelage color are intermediate between those inM. fascicularis andM. mulatta. The observed pattern of variation suggests that the ranges ofM. fascicularis andM. mulatta formerly were separated by a zoogeographic barrier — perhaps during a Pleistocene glacial interval. After disappearance of
the postulated barrier, the ranges of these two species apparently became contiguous and limited hybridization has occurred. |
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Keywords: | Hybridization Macaca fascicularis Macaca mulatta Tail length Variation |
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