Macaca mulatta
The Rhesus Macaque

Amanda Smith
ANT 340/340A
12/1/15

The Macaca mulatta, commonly known as the Rhesus Macaque or Rhesus Monkey, is one of the most largely spread monkeys in the world; it is a common Old World Monkey species that is so common and so similar to humans physiologically, that there is a large amount of research on it. Their full taxonomy is Haplorrhini Simiiformes Cercopithecoidea Cercopithecidae Cercophithecinae Macaca M. mulatta. According to Kumar, Radhakrishna, and Sinha (2011:2-3), rhesus macaques are one of the most common of the 8 species living in India; they are not only one of the most common species in India, but also other parts of Asia. Along with this, there are also at least seven subspecies, though they are not well defined, that inhabit areas throughout Asia (Kumar, Radhakrishna, and Sinha (2011:2-3). As with other Cercopithecines, they are larger than New World monkeys, with larger brains relative to their diets. They have ischial callosities, as well as larger incisors, low cusps on their molars, and cheek pouches; these last three are …show more content…
Human encroachment and deforestation are not the only threat to these primates; due to their abundance and similar physiology to humans, they are often used as the test subjects to gather information about diseases, as well as to try to make cures for other diseases. One of these major medical advancements was the discovery of the Rhesus factor. For a mother whose blood type is negative, her body will allow the first child whose blood type is positive to be born; if she has another child whose blood type is positive, however, she much get an injection, otherwise her body will kill off that second child. This was only discovered by studying the rhesus