The lion-tailed macaque belongs to the family Cercopithecidae. And belong to the genus and species Macaca silene. It is an old world monkey and the rarest of the macaques. The location of these macaques is in the Western Ghats mountains of India. They are primarily arboreal in the rainforest but go to the ground to gather food. “They live in southwest India, in pockets of evergreen forests, called sholas, in the Western Ghats range. They live at altitudes between 2,000 and 3,500 feet” (Smithsonian National Zoological, 2000). The lion-tailed macaque is diurnal. Their close relatives are pig-tailed macaques and baboons. The age of maturity for females is five years, while that of males is eight years. The duration of pregnancy is five and a half months. The birth patterns of captive lion-tailed macaques are random throughout the year, but wild macaques have shown a birth pattern. “Most births took place from January to April (70%) and from September to December (19%)” (Kaumanns, et al., 1429). “80 to 100% of female and male infants have body contact with their mothers up to 15 days after birth” (Kuamanns, et al., 350). Sometimes a mother can give birth to twins. Mother-son interactions last longer than mother-daughter interaction. After nine months, male infants are weaned from their mothers. But female infants are weaned from their mothers after seven months. After ten and a half months, infants are completely independent. Adult males do not interact with their offspring; once they mate with the female, they have no involvement. Once the offspring reach maturity, the female will remain in the troop and the males will leave the troop. Lion-tailed macaques have long, smooth black hair with gray...... middle of paper ...... natural habitats of Western Ghats, India. Current Science, 94(3),347-355. Excerpted from Academic Search Premier. Krishna, B.A., Singh, M., Singh, M. (2001). Behavioral responses of lion-tailed macaques (Macaca silene) to habitat change in a tropical rainforest in the Western Ghats, India, 72(5), 278-91. Retrieved from ProQuest. Kumar, MA, Kumara, HN, Sharma, AK, Singh, M. (2006). Dominance hierarchy and social grooming in female lion-tailed macaques (Macaca silenus) in the Western Ghats, India, 31(3), 369-377. Retrieved from ProQuest. Kumar, M.A., Kumara, H.N., Singh, M. (2008). Observations on tool use in captive lion-tailed macaques (Macaca silenus), 94(7), 925-928. Excerpted from Academic Search Premier. Smithsonian National Zoological Park. (2000). Friends of the National Zoo. Retrieved from http://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/asiatrail/lionmacaque.cfm