1. golden monkey (Latin name: Rhinopithecus), with soft fur and upturned nose, has 6 species, including Burma golden monkey, Nujiang golden monkey, Sichuan golden monkey, Yunnan golden monkey, Guizhou golden monkey and Vietnam golden monkey, among which, except Myanmar golden monkey and Vietnam golden monkey, they are all rare animals unique to China.
2. Golden monkeys live in alpine forests, feed on berries, bamboo shoots and moss, and also like to eat meat such as birds' eggs. The habitat is very high above sea level, and the long hair on the body can resist cold. These six species are rare species and are listed as endangered species in the red species list.
3. Golden monkey is characterized by large nostrils, upturned lips and no cheek pouch, which evolved to adapt to altitude hypoxia.
Among them, Sichuan golden monkey has golden hair, long hair on the shoulders and back, and a tail equal to or longer than the body. Adult males have an average length of 680 mm and a tail of 685 mm.
4. Guizhou golden monkey is similar to Sichuan golden monkey, but slightly smaller, but its tail is longer, with a body length of 637 ~ 690 mm and a tail length of 846 ~ 905 mm, and its back is grayish brown, and some have yellow tones;
5. Yunnan golden monkey is slightly larger than Sichuan golden monkey, with a body length of 740 ~ 830mm and a relatively short tail, which is about 510 ~ 720 mm. The back, body side, outer limbs, hands, feet and tail of Yunnan golden monkey are gray-black. There is sparse gray hair on his back. The neck, abdomen, buttocks and the inside of limbs are all white;
6. Nujiang golden monkey is black, only a little white on the face, chest and perineum. Generally, it weighs 20-30 kg, and the older one is 35-45 kg, with a body length of about1.2m. ..
Second, the history of species.
1, Discovery of Golden Monkey
The genus Rhinopithecus appeared in the Qinling Mountains of China during the Pleistocene/kloc-0.0 million years ago. It is generally believed that the origin of golden monkey is related to the middle monkey (an ancient colobus monkey) in Europe from late Miocene to Pliocene and the Doliehcpithecus in Europe. The phylogenetic tree of golden monkey has always been controversial about the classification of the genus golden monkey. Some people have observed that it is fertile under artificial breeding and think that it should be four subspecies of the same species. At present, the consistent view is that the golden monkey was originally a species distributed in the Hengduan Mountains, and then evolved into four species due to reproductive isolation caused by geological changes. This isolation occurred 25,000 years ago, and these species were incomplete due to the short isolation time.
2. The discovery of Sichuan golden monkey
Following the discovery of the giant panda, French missionary Pere David discovered another rare animal unique to China that people all over the world love: Sichuan golden monkey. From 1862 to 1874, the French missionary David sent plant specimens back to France and introduced many new plant species to France and Europe. In addition, 58 new species of birds, 100 new species of insects and many important new species of mammals were discovered in China, including the giant panda, golden monkey and elk endemic to China. After David came to China for the second time in 1867, he heard that there are many kinds of animals in western Sichuan, and some of them are rare and unknown, so he came to Baoxing County, Ya 'an City, Sichuan Province from Shanghai and served as the fourth generation pastor in Dunchigou Church in Donghe, Mu Ping. 1On May 4th, 869, the hunter caught six "long-tailed monkeys" for David. After careful consideration, David named the "long-tailed monkey" as "upturned nose monkey".
3. Discovery of Yunnan Golden Monkey
/kloc-in the winter of 0/890, the French missionary Bilt organized local hunters to capture seven Yunnan golden monkeys of different ages and sexes in Charley Snow Mountain on the border between Yunnan and Tibet, and sent their skulls and skins to the Paris Museum of Natural History. This is also the first scientific investigation of Yunnan golden monkey in the world. 1897, French zoologist Miller Edward made a scientific description of Yunnan golden monkey for the first time based on these seven specimens, and officially named it. But after nearly a century, the scientific community no longer has any information about this species, and has no understanding of its ecological habits. Seventy years later, 1960, Professor Peng Hongshou, a zoologist from China, happened to see eight skins of Yunnan golden monkey in Deqin Animal Products Company, which unexpectedly confirmed that this mysterious species still exists.
4. Discovery of Vietnamese golden monkey
Vietnamese golden monkey is a small long-tailed vegetarian monkey with a black abdomen and light yellow inside limbs. 19/kloc-0 was discovered only in 0/0 years and disappeared for half a century. 1989 was discovered only, and only 200 monkeys lived in northern Vietnam.
5. Discovery of Nujiang Golden Monkey
At the beginning of 20 10, researchers from the international wildlife conservation organization collected a complete corpse specimen of golden monkey during a primate survey in northeastern Kachin state, Myanmar. After comparison, the researchers excitedly judged that the new species is different from any known primate, and it is the fifth golden monkey that has been searching for many years.
Three. Living habits
1, food
Golden monkeys live in high mountains and dense forests. Mainly living in trees, but also looking for something to eat on the ground. Feed on wild fruits, buds, bamboo shoots and bryophytes. The staple food is leaves, shoots, flowers and fruits, as well as bark and roots. I like insects, birds and eggs.
Step 2 live in groups
Golden monkeys have a typical family life style, and members take care of each other, feed together and play together. In the golden monkey's home, the underage little golden monkey is very curious, naughty and loved by his parents. But when he grows up, the little male monkey will be driven out of the house by his father and can only live independently in the wild.
3. Estrus
Every autumn is the estrus of golden monkeys, and the sexual maturity of female monkeys is earlier than that of male monkeys. The female monkeys are about 4 to 5 years old, and the male monkeys are about 7 years later. Mating occurs all year round, but the peak of mating is in August 8- 10/0 month, and the pregnancy is about 6 months, more than 3-4 months, and some of them give birth in February or May. The pregnant period of female monkeys is about 6 months, usually one child and occasionally two children. The newborn monkey's face is dark blue, its fur is brown, and it cries like a baby. Weighing more than one kilogram after one month. In adult monkeys, the male-female ratio is about 1:2.
4. Guizhou golden monkey is only found in Fan Jing, Guizhou.
Yunnan golden monkeys are distributed in the high mountains and deep valleys on both sides of the main peak of Yunling between Lancang River and Jinsha River, and extend northward to the quiet mountainous areas of Tibet, including Deqin County, Weixi County, Lijiang County, Jianchuan County, Lanping County and Yunlong County in Yunnan, and Mangkang County in Tibet.
5. Sichuan golden monkeys are distributed in Sichuan, Shaanxi (Ningshan), Hubei and Gansu, living in mountainous areas and living in groups.
Burmese golden monkeys are distributed in the northeast of Zhou Keqin, Myanmar and Gaoligong Mountain in China.
Nujiang golden monkey is distributed in Nujiang area of China.
Vietnamese golden monkeys are only distributed in the low-altitude subtropical rain forest in the limestone mountains between Xuanguang Province and North Pacific Province in northern Vietnam.