![]() | You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Japanese. (August 2024) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
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Japanese macaque | |
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A Japanese macaque mother grooming her child | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Primates |
Suborder: | Haplorhini |
Infraorder: | Simiiformes |
Family: | Cercopithecidae |
Genus: | Macaca |
Species: | M. fuscata
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Binomial name | |
Macaca fuscata | |
Subspecies | |
Macaca fuscata fuscata | |
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Japanese macaque range |
The Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata), also known as the snow monkey, is a terrestrial Old World monkey species that is native to Japan. Colloquially, they are referred to as "snow monkeys" because some live in areas where snow covers the ground for months each year – no other non-human primate lives farther north, nor in a colder climate.[3] Individuals have brownish grey fur, pinkish-red faces, and short tails. Two subspecies are known.[4]
In Japan, the species is known as Nihonzaru (ニホンザル, a combination of Nihon 日本 "Japan" + saru 猿 "monkey") to distinguish it from other primates, but the Japanese macaque is very familiar in Japan—as it is the only species of monkey in Japan—so when Japanese people simply say saru, they usually have the Japanese macaque in mind.