See text The macaques (/məˈkɑːk, -ˈkæk/)[2] constitute a genus (Macaca) of gregarious Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae.

Macaques are principally frugivorous (preferring fruit), although their diet also includes seeds, leaves, flowers, and tree bark.

On average, a southern pig-tailed macaque (M. nemestrina) in Malaysia eats about 70 large rats each year.

The fur of these animals is typically varying shades of brown or black and their muzzles are rounded in profile with nostrils on the upper surface.

Males from all species can range from 41 to 70 cm (16 to 28 inches) in head and body length, and in weight from 5.5 to 18 kg (12.13 to 39.7 lb).

They are considered highly intelligent and are often used in the medical field for experimentation due to their remarkable similarity to humans in emotional and cognitive development.

[6] Macaques are highly adaptable to different habitats and climates and can tolerate a wide fluctuation of temperatures and live in varying landscape settings.

[9] There is also an introduced population of rhesus macaques in the US state of Florida consisting, essentially, of monkeys abandoned when a failed boat ride-safari was shut down in the mid-20th century.

A probable Early Pliocene macaque molar from the Red Crag Formation (Waldringfield, United Kingdom), represents one of the oldest and northernmost records of the genus in Europe reported to date.

In natural habitats, they have been observed to consume certain parts of over one hundred species of plants including the buds, fruit, young leaves, bark, roots, and flowers.

[citation needed] Macaques have a very intricate social structure and hierarchy, with different classifications of despotism depending on species.

Populations of the rhesus macaque can grow at rates of 10% to 15% per year if the environmental conditions are favorable.

Certain species under the genus Macaca have become invasive in certain parts of the world, while others that survive in forest habitats remain threatened.

The long-tailed macaque causes severe damage to parts of its range where it has been introduced because the populations grow unchecked due to a lack of predators.

Long-tailed macaques are also responsible for the near extinction of several bird species on Mauritius by destroying the nests of the birds as they move through their native ranges and eat the eggs of critically endangered species, such as the pink pigeon and Mauritian green parrot.

[17] They can be serious agricultural pests because they raid crops and gardens and humans often shoot the monkeys which can eliminate entire local populations.

In Florida, a group of rhesus macaques inhabit Silver Springs State Park.

[19] Urban performing macaques also carried simian foamy virus, suggesting they could be involved in the species-to-species jump of similar retroviruses to humans.

[15] Other control strategies include planting specific trees to provide protection to native birds from macaque predation, live trapping, and the vaccine porcine zona pellucida (PZP), which causes infertility in females.

[17] In January 2018, scientists in China reported in the journal Cell the first creation of two crab-eating macaque clones, named Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua, using somatic cell nuclear transfer – the same method that produced Dolly the sheep.