Muna-Buton macaque Muna-Buton macaque The Muna-Buton macaque ("Macaca ochreata brunnescens") is one of seven Sulawesi macaques in Indonesia. It is only found on two small islands off the south-east coast; the islands of Buton and Muna. This Old World monkey is diurnal and arboreal, although it can spend significant amounts of time on the ground. It is black with grey "boots" and a brownish colour to the fur on its back. Like other Sulawesi macaques it has a reduced tail of only about 35mm in length. Its body is about 475 - 495mm in length. The Muna-Buton macaque feeds on fruits for
Rhesus macaque significance because the macaque is used as an experimental model of the human immune system. In humans, the preferentially expressed antigen of melanoma (PRAME) gene family is expanded. It is actively expressed in cancers, but normally is testis-specific, possibly involved in spermatogenesis. The PRAME family has 26 members on human chromosome 1. In the macaque, it has eight, and has been very simple and stable for millions of years. The PRAME family arose in translocations in the common mouse-primate ancestor 85 million years ago, and is expanded on mouse chromosome 4. DNA microarrays are used in macaque research. For example,