* M a c a c u s a s s a m e n s i s , M‘Clelland.
A supposed new monkey, Ajidr. Proe. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1872,p. 529 (figs. of skull).
Macacus assamensis, McClelland, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1889, p. 148; Walker, Cab Journ. Nat. Hist,
vol. ii. 1842, p. 265; Schinz, Syn. Mamm. vol. i. 1844, p. 57; Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Beng.
1844, vol. xiii. p. 476 ; Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. xx. 1851, p. 818; Cat. Mamm. Mus.
As. Soc. Beng. 1868, p. 8; Horsfield, Cat. Mamm. E. Ind. Co. Mus. 1851, p. 21; Sclater,
Proc. Zool. Soc. 1868,' p. 566; Ibid, 1871, p. 222; Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. vol. xliv.
1875, ex. no. p. 5.
Papio assamensis, Ogilby, Boyle's 111. Him. lot. Mamm. 1840, p. 6; Madr. Journ. Lit. and Sc.
vol. xii. 1840, p. 144.
Macacus (Piikex) pelops, Hodgson, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. vol. ix. 1840,.p. 1218; Ibid, vol. x.
p. 908; Cal. Journ. Nat. Hist. vol. ii. IMS, p. 21*1 Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist vol. viii.
184», p. 815; Cal. Jonm. Nat. Hist. vol. iv. 1844, p. 285.
Macacus pelops, Sclinz, Syn. Mamm. voll.i. 1844, p. 60 ; Gray, Hodgson, Coll. Nepal, Mamm. fa.
1846, p. 2 i Blyth, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. ax. 1851, p. 818; Gray, Cat. Monkeys
and Lemurs (in part), 1870, p. 80.
Inuus (rhesus) pelops, Wagner, Schreber, Siiugeth. Suppl. vol. v. 1855, p. 56.
Innus (rhesus) assamensis, Wagner, Schreber, Saugeth. Suppl. vol. v. 1855, p. 57.
Inuus assamensis, Hutton, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. vol. xxxiii. 1864, Appendix, p. xiii.
Inuus pelops, Hutton, Journ..As. Soc. Beng. vol. xxxiii. 1864, Appendix, p. xiii.; Jerdon, Mamm.
Ind. 1867, p. 11; Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. vol. xliv. 1875, ex. no. p. 6.
Macacus problematicus, Gray, Cat. Monkeys and Lemurs, B. M. 1870, p. 128; Sclater, Proc. Zool.
Soc. 1871, p. 222.
Macacus rheso-similis, Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1872, p. 495, PI. xxv. juv.
The type of M. assamensis in the Indian Museum, London, is an adult male.
I t is a stuffed specimen, hut the skull has been removed from the skin and is not in
the Museum. This monkey differs from all adult examples of the common monkey
of the plains of India which have come under my observation in the anterior half
of the body wanting the ashy tin t which is so characteristic of the adults, and in
the hinder portion of the body being in no way rufous. The fur, too, is almost
completely devoid of annulations, and the hair around the face and on the chin
is longer than in animals from the plains. The general colour of this old specimen
may be described as brown, washed over the outer side of the fore-limbs, and more
especially between the shoulders and the back of the neck, with yellowish, which
appears in certain lights as a pale golden, passing on the upper surface-of the
head into a pale-yellowish brown. The general brownish tint is darkest on the
flanks, where it has a fuliginous tinge, and down the front margin of the fore-limbs,
over the outer surface of the thighs, the dorsi of the feet and on the tail.
The inside of the limbs and the under surface generally are much paler than the
upper parts, and have a yellowish tint, inclining to grey. Behind the angle of the
mouth, and below and behind the ears and on the chin, the hair is rather long and
nearly of the same colour as the under surface, but slightly tipped with blackish.
There is a moderately dense line of rather long supraorbital hairs with a pencil
of aiTnilflT hairs extending backwards from the external orbital angle of the frontals.
The hair generally is wavy, and on the shoulders and between them above and on
the sides of the chest it is much longer than on the hind part of the body, with the
exception of the dark hairs on the lower part of the flanks, which are also rather
long. The hair on the vertex radiates from a point about one inch above the
level of the supraorbital ridge, and a few of the front hairs are directed forwards,
but the mass outwards and slightly backwards, which is also the direction of the
hairs external to the radiating point. There are a few long black supraciliary
hairs, also others on the upper lip and chin. The callosities are closely surrounded
by the fur. The length of the animal along the curve of the head and back is
26*75 inches, the tail measuring 9J inches.
I obtained on the right bank of the Irawady, about twenty to twenty-five miles
below Bhamó, a female monkey which closely agrees with the type of M. assamensis,iS |
so much so that it is impossible to resist the conclusion that they are one and the
same race. I t was one of a large Colony living below the huge Deva-faced, limestone
cliff, at the foot of which lies the small pagoda of Sessoungan. The crews of passing
boats and pious visitors generally throw rice and fruits to these monkeys as a work
of merit. I observed another and similar colony some miles further down the river
on the same bank. At the time, I noted that the adults aré apparently larger
and more powerful than M. rhesus. They have moderately long ta ils; their bodies
are dark brown above, the under parts palish, but contrasting decidedly with the
former colour.
The solitary specimen I succeeded in obtaining at that colony was a gravid
female, of which the following is a description.
This monkey is uniformly brown, with a rufous golden tinge over the shoulders
and neck, the latter tint paling on the head, more especially over the external
angle of the forehead. I t is pale yellowish behind the ears and on the back
part of the cheeks, where there are a few intermixed black hairs. There are
a few black supraorbital hairs, and the ears are tufted with hairs of similar
colour besides being well clad internally. The face is surrounded, from behind
the ears to the chin, by long pale yellowish hairs, and the beard is well developed,
the hairs having a well-defined, almost black, subapical band. The limbs
externally and the upper surfaces of the feet are concolorous with the hinder
quarters of the animal. The under surface of the body and limbs are of a pale
yellowish. The tail is dark brown at the base, paling somewhat towards the
tip, which is slightly tufted. The face and ears are dusky. The buttocks are
densely clad with hair to the sides of the callosities, but below the vulva there is a
small bare area which in life is suffused with dark purple. This, however, is a
gravid female, and I do not know what may be the characters of this region in the
female in heat.
The hair on the vertex radiates more or less; on the forehead it is erect and
rather short and dense, tending to divide outwards and forwards, and on the
shoulders it is longer than on the hind part of the body.