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The Myanmar snub-nosed monkey or Burmese snub-nosed monkey or black snub-nosed monkey (''Rhinopithecus strykeri'') is a
critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...
species of
colobine The Colobinae or leaf-eating monkeys are a subfamily of the Old World monkey family that includes 61 species in 11 genera, including the black-and-white colobus, the large-nosed proboscis monkey, and the gray langurs. Some classifications split ...
monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes. Thus monkeys, in that sense, co ...
discovered in 2010 in northern Burma (Myanmar). It was formally described as a novel species of primate in 2011 based on its
fur A fur is a soft, thick growth of hair that covers the skin of almost all mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an ...
,
beard A beard is the hair that grows on the jaw, chin, upper lip, lower lip, cheeks, and neck of humans and some non-human animals. In humans, beards are most commonly seen on pubescent or adult males, though women have been observed with beards ...
and
tail The tail is the elongated section at the rear end of a bilaterian animal's body; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage extending backwards from the midline of the torso. In vertebrate animals that evolution, evolved to los ...
. Two groups of the species were discovered in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
in 2011 and 2015, respectively. The species is known in local
dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...
s of
Lisu people The Lisu people (; , ; ; ) are a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group who inhabit mountainous regions of Myanmar (Burma), southwest China, Thailand, and the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. About 730,000 Lisu live in Lijiang, Baoshan, Nujiang, D ...
as ''mey nwoah'' and Law Waw people as ''myuk na tok te'', both of which mean "monkey with an upturned face".
Rain Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...
allegedly causes it to sneeze due to the short upturned
nasal Nasal is an adjective referring to the nose, part of human or animal anatomy. It may also be shorthand for the following uses in combination: * With reference to the human nose: ** Nasal administration, a method of pharmaceutical drug delivery * ...
flesh around its
nostrils A nostril (or naris , : nares ) is either of the two orifices of the nose. They enable the entry and exit of air and other gasses through the nasal cavities. In birds and mammals, they contain branched bones or cartilages called turbinates, ...
. People from the area report that it sits with its head directed downwards, hiding its face between its knees when it rains.


Discovery and taxonomy

The Myanmar snub-nosed monkey was first discovered in 2010 from Gaoligong Mountains of northeastern Kachin state in Myanmar. The species came to the attention of a team of scientists allied to the "Myanmar Primate Conservation Program" who were researching the status of the
hoolock gibbon The hoolock gibbons are three primate species of genus ''Hoolock'' in the gibbon family, Hylobatidae, native to eastern Bangladesh, Northeast India, Myanmar, and Southwest China. Description Hoolocks are the second-largest of the gibbons, after ...
. The team, led by Swiss primatologist Thomas Geissman and Ngwe Lwin of the Myanmar Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association (BANCA), were supported by Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and the People Resources and Conservation Foundation (PRCF). They reported the scientific identification in the '' American Journal of Primatology'' in 2011. The distinguishing features of the monkey are its
fur A fur is a soft, thick growth of hair that covers the skin of almost all mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an ...
,
beard A beard is the hair that grows on the jaw, chin, upper lip, lower lip, cheeks, and neck of humans and some non-human animals. In humans, beards are most commonly seen on pubescent or adult males, though women have been observed with beards ...
and
tail The tail is the elongated section at the rear end of a bilaterian animal's body; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage extending backwards from the midline of the torso. In vertebrate animals that evolution, evolved to los ...
. The
specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...
''strykeri'' was given in honour of
philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...
Jon Stryker Jon Lloyd Stryker (born c. 1958) is an American architect, philanthropist, and billionaire heir to the Stryker Corporation medical technology company fortune. Stryker is the founder and president of the Arcus Foundation, which primarily supports ...
, president and founder of the
Arcus Foundation The Arcus Foundation is an international charitable foundation focused on issues related to LGBT rights, social justice, ape conservation, and environmental preservation. The foundation's stated mission is "to ensure that LGBT people and our fell ...
, which also sponsored the project. The
type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...
was identified from the Maw River area. The
specimen Specimen may refer to: Science and technology * Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount * Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository f ...
most closely examined was the skull (with mandible) and skin of a gutted adult male obtained from hunters in Pade, subsequently deposited in the Anthropological Institute and Museum of the
University of Zürich The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...
. Additional sample skulls of animals killed some three years earlier, one male and one female, were also collected along with a bag made out of the skin of a juvenile caught in January 2010, all obtained in Htantan village. The team encountered seven live specimens, including an infant, but these moved out of sight before they could be photographed or studied in detail.Kaufman, R.
New Snub-Nosed Monkey Discovered, Eaten
' 27 Oct 2010
National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...
Retrieved 28 Oct 2010
Other specimens were later found in the
Yunnan Province Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...
and Salween River Basin in China. A
camera trap A camera trap is a camera that is automatically triggered by motion in its vicinity, like the presence of an animal or a human being. It is typically equipped with a motion sensor—usually a passive infrared (PIR) sensor or an active infrared ...
set by a team of FFI, BANCA and PRCF researchers captured the first known images of live snub-nosed monkeys in January 2012.


Physical characteristics

The monkey's fur is mostly black. Its
crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...
consists of a thin, high, forward-curved crest of long, black hairs. It has protruding white
ear tuft Ear tufts are a collection of fur or feathers found on animals which can resemble an animal's ear or is near the animal's ear. Cats Ear tufts are not found on all cat breeds. The ear tufts are located on the tips of cat ears and are also known ...
s, a mostly naked face with pale pink skin, a "moustache" of whitish hairs above the upper lip, and a distinct white chin beard. The perineal area is white and clearly defined, and the limbs are mostly black; the inner sides of the upper arms and upper legs are blackish brown. The lips are prominent, and the nose upturned, allegedly causing the animal to sneeze in rainy weather.: "The monkeys allegedly sneeze audibly when rainwater gets in their noses and local people said they could be found with their heads tucked between their knees on rainy days.". As in other snub-nosed monkeys (members of ''Rhinopithecus'') there is distinct sexual dimorphism with males having relatively larger bodies. Their tails are relatively long and normally approximately 1.4 times their body length. The first found specimen, an adult male, has a height of , and a tail long. From several specimens available, males on average measure 55.5 cm in height with 78 cm tail length, weighing 17 kg; while females are 53 cm tall with 64.5 cm tail length, and weighing 9 to 11.6 kg.


Distribution and habitat

The species spend summer months in temperate mixed forests at upper elevations of their range, and descend to lower ground in the winter to escape snow. In contrast to other snub-nosed monkeys which are mostly ground dwellers, the Myanmar snub-nosed monkeys are highly arboreal in habitat behaviour spending much of their times on trees. Males are outnumbered females by 1 to 2.1. When first discovered, the only known specimens existed in three or four groups within a range at above sea level in the eastern
Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...
, in the north-eastern section of
Kachin State Kachin State (; Jingpho language, Kachin: ) is the northernmost administrative divisions of Myanmar, state of Myanmar. It is bordered by China to the north and east (Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibet and Yunnan, respectively), Shan State to the sou ...
, the northernmost part of Burma (Myanmar). In 2011, a population was discovered in Pianma, Lushui County,
Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...
, China.ScienceDaily (July 26, 2012).
First Photo Evidence of Snub-Nosed Monkey Species in China.
' Retrieved 15 September 2012.
The species is isolated from other snub-nosed ''
Rhinopithecus Snub-nosed monkeys are a group of Old World monkeys and make up the entirety of the genus ''Rhinopithecus''. The genus is rare and not fully researched. Some taxonomists group snub-nosed monkeys together with the genus ''Pygathrix''. Distributi ...
'' by the
Mekong The Mekong or Mekong River ( , ) is a transboundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth-longest river and the third-longest in Asia with an estimated length of and a drainage area of , discharging of wat ...
and the
Salween The Salween is a Southeast Asian river, about long, flowing from the Tibetan Plateau south into the Andaman Sea. The Salween flows primarily within southwest China and eastern Myanmar, with a short section forming the border of Myanmar and Tha ...
rivers; the other 4 species, golden,
black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
,
gray Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...
and Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys, are found in China and
Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
. The species shares habitat with Shortridge's langur,
stump-tailed macaque The stump-tailed macaque (''Macaca arctoides''), also called the bear macaque, is a species of macaque native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. In India, it occurs south of the Brahmaputra River, in the northeastern part of the country. Its range ...
, Assam macaque,
rhesus macaque The rhesus macaque (''Macaca mulatta''), colloquially rhesus monkey, is a species of Old World monkey. There are between six and nine recognised subspecies split between two groups, the Chinese-derived and the Indian-derived. Generally brown or g ...
, and northern pig-tailed macaque. On the morning of 16 October 2011, a forest guard at
Gaoligongshan National Nature Reserve The Gaoligongshan National Nature Reserve (GNNR) is a protected area comprising the Gaoligong Mountains and the nearby Nu Jiang Reserve in the western Yunnan Province of China, near the international border with Burma. It covers a vast stretch o ...
in China took photos of a group of snub-nosed monkeys which were later identified as ''R. strykeri''. This made a breaking headline in China especially on the urgent need for a conservation programme. Habitat evaluation study shows that the Myanmar or black snub-nosed monkeys' habitat are covering 3670 km2 in Sino-Myanmar border, including core habitat of 1420 km2 . Feeding habit study shows this species can consume more than 170 plant species and fungal foods, 15 species of lichens.


Conservation status

Deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...
due to
logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, trucks isolation and
hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...
by local humans for food are considered dangers to the small extant population. The known Burmese population size is 260-330 individuals, and it is believed less than 200 remain in China. It is recognized as
Critically Endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...
by the
IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...
. The Chinese population is found within the Gaoligongshan National Nature Reserve. In 2020, with technical input from
Fauna and Flora International Fauna & Flora is an international nature conservation charity and non-governmental organization based in the United Kingdom. Founded as the Society for the Preservation of the Wild Fauna of the Empire, the society created some of the first ga ...
(FFI) and the Rainforest Trust, the Myanmar Forest department designated a new protected area called Imawbum National Park (386,176 acres) to protect the high-elevation forests in which the Myanmar snub-nosed monkey lives.


Origin and evolution

Snub-nosed monkeys and the
langurs The Colobinae or leaf-eating monkeys are a family (biology), subfamily of the Old World monkey family that includes 61 species in 11 genus, genera, including the black-and-white colobus, the large-nosed proboscis monkey, and the gray langurs. So ...
are the two major groups of colobine monkeys in Asia. The monophyletic origin of these Asian monkeys are already established through
molecular phylogeny Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...
using
nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics * Nuclear space *Nuclear ...
and
mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA and mDNA) is the DNA located in the mitochondrion, mitochondria organelles in a eukaryotic cell that converts chemical energy from food into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA is a small portion of the D ...
s. To further resolve the
evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...
ary status of these monkeys with emphasis on ''R. strykery'', primatologists at German Primate Center analysed the complete
mitochondrial genome Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA and mDNA) is the DNA located in the mitochondria organelles in a eukaryotic cell that converts chemical energy from food into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA is a small portion of the DNA contained in ...
s and 12 nuclear loci, including one X chromosomal, six Y chromosomal and five autosomal loci, from all ten odd-nosed monkey species. Their findings in 2012 revealed that snub nosed ''Rhinopithecus'' group represent the most basal lineage, with '' Nasalis'' and '' Simias'' forming the closest
group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...
, which implies that these odd-nosed monkeys originated from northern Burma and a later expanded into
Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...
and
Sundaland Sundaland (also called Sundaica or the Sundaic region) is a biogeographical region of Southeast Asia corresponding to a larger landmass that was exposed throughout the last 2.6 million years during periods when sea levels were lower. It inc ...
. The snub-nosed group diverged from other Asian monkeys about 6.8-6 million years ago, and from Nasalis and
Simia In his ''Systema Naturae'' of 1758, Carl Linnaeus divided the Order Primates within ''Mammalia'' into four genera: ''Homo'', ''Simia'', ''Lemur'', and ''Vespertilio''. His ''Vespertilio'' included all bats, and has since been moved from Primates t ...
clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...
about 1.2 Ma. Further, various species of the snub-nosed group split from each other about 730,000-400,000 years ago.


Recognition

Taxonomic experts at the
International Institute for Species Exploration The International Institute for Species Exploration (IISE) was a research institute located in Syracuse, New York. Its mission was to improve Taxonomy (biology), taxonomical exploration and the cataloging of new species of flora and fauna. Betw ...
honoured the monkey species as one of the ''Top 10 New Species 2012'' among new species described in 2011 throughout the world. Its unique
appearance Appearance may refer to: * Visual appearance, the way in which objects reflect and transmit light * Human physical appearance, what someone looks like * ''Appearances'' (film), a 1921 film directed by Donald Crisp * Appearance (philosophy), or ...
,
behaviour Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions of Individual, individuals, organisms, systems or Artificial intelligence, artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or or ...
and
vulnerability Vulnerability refers to "the quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally." The understanding of social and environmental vulnerability, as a methodological approach, involves ...
make it outstanding and not only in novelty, but also in conservation issues. It has even earned a new nickname "the sneezing monkey" for its peculiar behaviour.


See also

*
Snub-nosed monkey Snub-nosed monkeys are a group of Old World monkeys and make up the entirety of the genus ''Rhinopithecus''. The genus is rare and not fully researched. Some taxonomists group snub-nosed monkeys together with the genus '' Pygathrix''. Distribut ...
* Primates described in the 2000s *
List of endangered and protected species of China A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, bu ...


Notes


External links


Top 10 New Species – 2012Profile at Carnivora
{{DEFAULTSORT:monkey, snub-nosed, Myanmar
Myanmar snub-nosed monkey The Myanmar snub-nosed monkey or Burmese snub-nosed monkey or black snub-nosed monkey (''Rhinopithecus strykeri'') is a critically endangered species of colobine monkey discovered in 2010 in northern Burma, Burma (Myanmar). It was formally specie ...
Primates of Southeast Asia Mammals of Myanmar Fauna of Yunnan Critically endangered fauna of Asia
Myanmar snub-nosed monkey The Myanmar snub-nosed monkey or Burmese snub-nosed monkey or black snub-nosed monkey (''Rhinopithecus strykeri'') is a critically endangered species of colobine monkey discovered in 2010 in northern Burma, Burma (Myanmar). It was formally specie ...