Japanese macaque

Japanese macaque
A mother grooming her child
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Cercopithecidae
Genus: Macaca
Species:
M. fuscata
Binomial name
Macaca fuscata
Blyth, 1875
Subspecies

Macaca fuscata fuscata
Macaca fuscata yakui

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, this macaque is referred to as the "snow monkey", 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. It has brownish grey fur, a pinkish-red face, and a short tail. Two subspecies are known.

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 native species of monkey in Japan—so when Japanese people simply say saru, they usually have the Japanese macaque in mind.

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