Snub-nosed monkey: the consequences of mountain life (10 photos)

Fortunately, it is difficult to meet a creepy monkey face to face. This is because the animal has chosen the Chinese province of Yunnan as its home. The location is not very welcoming for living - the Himalayas are pressed to the west. Therefore, most of the territory is mountains up to 6 km high.





Your face when a friend confidently proves to you that the Yeti does not exist.

Primates have mastered the height of 3000 to 4700 meters above sea level. Among other non-human apes, this is a record - no monkey can climb higher!



Yes, Botox makes me younger and more beautiful.

Among the coniferous forests of the highlands, between the fluffy branches of ancient pines, spruces and firs, you can see the terrifying scoreboard of a monkey. Small sharp teeth, like an evil leprechaun, black eyes. But the cherry on the cake is the nose. More precisely, its complete absence. Monkeys literally have no bones there, just like Voldemort! Did you think that was all? No way! Look a little lower and you will see huge lips. All the regulars of beauty clinics will envy them.





They bought her a fur coat and pumped up her lips. And she still sits there dissatisfied!

Why does a monkey have such a grotesque appearance? The question is open. There is a hypothesis that due to the complete absence of a nose, it does not freeze. Which is important in the cold mountains. But why do they need such fleshy lips in this case? Do they have hygiene products hidden in their fur, since they do not crack from the cold? In general, there are more questions than answers. After all, the rest of the body looks quite normal - a black and white furry lump weighing 9-13 kg.



If you don't look at them closely, they are quite cute monkeys!

The conditions where snub-nosed monkeys have settled down cannot be called paradise. In China, the mountain ranges of the province are one of the few territories that Asians have not been able to develop. Infertile soil, extreme terrain, freezing temperatures - were not easy for Homo sapiens. Therefore, snub-nosed primates had to adapt.



Asians also call these primates "upside-down monkeys." This means that their face seems to be directed inward, not outward.

For example, by changing the order of the genomes in DNA. Unlike their relatives living at lower altitudes, Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys have a special mutation that prevents them from suffocating from the thin air. Most likely, the ADAM gene group is involved. Scientists have observed the same process in yaks and small birds, Tibetan false jays.



After the bath, into the snow!

The primates also pumped up their stomachs. In the highlands, the standard monkey diet of fruits, nuts and insects is a luxury. Yunnan monkeys have to eat what they have. And in the mountain taiga, there are only pine needles, bark and lichens. The latter are especially difficult, because lichens are poisonous to most animals due to toxic microorganisms. The monkeys found a way to deal with them - they changed their own microflora. It kills harmful bacteria and processes all the nutrients that remain.



The first day on a diet always feels like this.

With such a diet, you have to eat a lot and move a lot, so the animals constantly travel in large groups in search of something to chew on. And this company is a small concert hall. A pack of Yunnan monkeys can have up to 500 individuals at a time! The group consists of several alpha males surrounded by ladies and groups of bachelors who do not approach the alphas, but stay nearby.



The photo clearly shows where the male is and where the female is. The guys are 1/3 bigger than the ladies!

The monkeys remain in this composition in October, when the breeding season begins. The alpha males attract the attention of the ladies and preen themselves. Their already huge lips turn red and swell as if from a bee sting. The bachelors and young animals, on the contrary, deflate and discolor their lips so as not to give the dominants an extra reason to fight.



A respectable man should have everything respectable! Including lips.

Unable to resist the "unearthly beauty", the females carry their offspring under their hearts for 6-7 months to give birth just before the snow melts in March-June. Interestingly, the monkeys have mastered obstetrics. Some females help others during childbirth. The new baby will have to endure 5 harsh years among the cold, snow, thin air and meager food before it becomes fully adult.



Sell the stroller to mommy for half price!

It is not surprising that the slightest human intervention undermined the population. It is not easy to survive here! Deforestation, hunting and folk medicine have caught up with the monsters even among the mountain peaks. But not as massively as in other places in Asia. So the snub-nosed ones still have a chance to survive!