Common Name: Japanese Macaque
Scientific Name: Macaca fuscata
Name Given to Offspring: Infant
Group Name: Troop

Japanese macaques have cheek pouches for food storage and exhibit sexual dimorphism (males and females look different). Mature males are larger and have pronounced canine teeth. They also have brightly colored ischial callosities (buttocks pads). Ischial callosities are an adaptation for the long periods of time when monkeys sit in trees, so their legs don’t “go to sleep” with all of their body weight resting on their rears!

Geographic Range: Japan
Habitat: Forested mountain slopes

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Primata

Order: Anthropoidea

Family: Cercopithecidae

Height: 21 inches, tail 4 inches

Weight: 20-30 pounds (male is larger than female)

They are both terrestrial and arboreal (inhabit trees) and are the largest of the macaques.

They live farther north than any other primates except humans.

Japanese macaques live in "troops," usually made up of 20 - 30 individuals. Troop size is dependent on food availability. Each troop is lead by a dominant male who receives his rank by strength. Females usually remain in the same troop for life. Rank for females is inherited, with daughters receiving the rank of their mothers!

Japanese macaques are rarely aggressive, and display social interactions such as grooming one another and sharing the jobs of bringing up the young.

Adapt to climatic changes (sunbathe, huddle, bathe in hot springs). They are good swimmers!

Important role in Japanese mythology and art. They are also famous for demonstrating that primates may have a culture. When one Japanese macaque discovered that the easier way to get rid of dirt on a sweet potato was to wash it, others soon picked up the trick and it was passed on to other troops as well! The macaques are believed to have developed the habit of soaking in thermal pools during the winter.

The Buffalo Zoo

The Japanese macaque, or snow monkey, is native to Japan and lives farther north than any other nonhuman primate. Their faces are hairless and turn bright red during adulthood. Unlike most monkeys that live in tropical areas, snow monkeys experience four distinct seasons each year. To stay warm in the harsh winter, snow monkeys huddle together and ‘relax’ in hot springs.