NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
White-cheeked Macaque
Macaca leucogenys Li, Zhao & Fan, 2015
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The white-cheeked macaque (Macaca leucogenys) is a species of macaque found only in Mêdog County in southeastern Tibet and Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India. The white-cheeked macaque lives in forest habitats, from tropical forests to primary and secondary evergreen broad-leaved forests and mixed broadleaf-conifer forests. The species was first described by Chinese primatologists Cheng Li, Chao Zhao, and Peng-Fei Fan, in the American Journal of Primatology in 2015. It is one of twenty-three extant species in the genus Macaca, and the most recent to be formally described to science. While the species' exact conservation status has not yet been determined, it is likely threatened by poaching, deforestation, and increased human development of its habitat, much like the other primates which inhabit the area.
Wikipedia contributors, White-cheeked macaque; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:48:11.484485+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Macaca leucogenys Li, Zhao & Fan, 2015
- Name authority
- Li, Zhao & Fan, 2015
- Common name
- White-cheeked Macaque
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Primates
- Family
- Cercopithecidae
- Genus
- Macaca
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderPrimates Linnaeus, 1758
- suborderHaplorrhini Pocock, 1918
- infraorderSimiiformes Haeckel, 1866
- superfamilyCercopithecoidea Gray, 1821
- familyCercopithecidae Gray, 1821
- subfamilyCercopithecinae Gray, 1821
- tribePapionini
- genusMacaca Lacépède, 1799
- speciesMacaca leucogenys Li, Zhao & Fan, 2015
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Macaca. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Crab-eating MacaqueMacaca fascicularis (Raffles, 1821) | CercopithecidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Japanese MacaqueMacaca fuscata (Blyth, 1875) | CercopithecidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Southern Pig-tailed MacaqueMacaca nemestrina (Linnaeus, 1766) | CercopithecidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Gorontalo MacaqueMacaca nigrescens (Temminck, 1849) | CercopithecidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Booted MacaqueMacaca ochreata (Ogilby, 1841) | CercopithecidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Pagai Island MacaqueMacaca pagensis (Miller, 1903) | CercopithecidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bonnet MacaqueMacaca radiata (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1812) | CercopithecidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Siberut MacaqueMacaca siberu Fuentes & Olson, 1995 | CercopithecidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lion-tailed MacaqueMacaca silenus (Linnaeus, 1758) | CercopithecidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Barbary MacaqueMacaca sylvanus (Linnaeus, 1758) | CercopithecidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Milne-Edwards's MacaqueMacaca thibetana (A. Milne-Edwards, 1870) | CercopithecidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Assam MacaqueMacaca assamensis (McClelland, 1840) | CercopithecidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Li, Cheng, Chao Zhao, & and Peng-Fei Fan. (2015). White-Cheeked Macaque (Macaca leucogenys): A New Macaque Species from Medog, Southeastern Tibet. American Journal of Primatology, Vol. 77, No. 7. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3WWNL. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.