ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author uses genus Macaca as a natural model of tail reduction in order to elucidate this process and to examine its relationship to behavioral and ecological differences between the species. In view of the methodological perspective of the tail reduction, the specific objectives are threefold: first, to examine and define as completely as possible the parameters of tail size and structure, tail mobility, pelvo-caudal musculature, and ischial callosity and tuberosity size and shape. Second, to determine correlations and interrelationships within and between these parameters; Third, to examine possible functional explanations for these morphological differences in terms of behavioral parameters such as tail use, sitting and sleeping postures, and locomotion, and in terms of differences in ecology. One of the limitations encountered in the use of the research material was the differences in age and size between the cadaveric and live specimens, which placed limitations on the types and reliability of comparisons between species.
