Body Features Complains!

If Don Francisco de Quevedo had seen it, perhaps he would have added a second composition to that famous sonnet he wrote, and that sonnet would have startyed: Once upon a time there was a monkey attached to a nose.

But the proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus) doesn’t carry its "superlative nose" as an annoying and unavoidable burden. Even though it’s the largest nasal appendage among primates, it’s responsible for the success in finding a sexual partner, according to the few studies carried out so far about this.

The larger the nose of these males, the more likely they are to have a harem of several females. However, males with less pronounced facial features more often live in groups of bachelors, says National Geographic.

These proboscis monkeys can only be found on the Asian island of Borneo and they are in the brink of extinction. Perhaps that’s why they even use their nose in mating, since it gives their call greater resonance.

And females of this species, say the connoisseurs, prefer those with the largest nose.

Translated by Amilkal Labañino / CubaSí Translation Staff