Tool Use And Behavior Of Wild And Captive Capuchins

Monkeys and humans have been compared for years, we have all heard the expression “Monkey see, Monkey do”. Analyzing individual primates at the Santa Ana Zoo was quite an experience because when I use to hear monkeys I use to only picture one certain appearance and that was a brown monkey with a light brown face, and a long tail. Moneys are not just monkeys, humans aren’t just humans, and apes aren’t just apes they are all primates which is a mammal that has certain characteristics such as: flexible fingers and toes, opposable thumbs, flatter face than other mammals, have eyes that face forward and spaced close together, large and complex cerebrum, and they are also social

Primates are one of the most interesting mammals on earth, not only because of their complex social structures, but because they hold so many similar characteristics to humans. Primates are often cited as our closest living relatives and on two separate occasions I observed four separate species of primates at the San Diego Zoo that can justify their use of their physical characteristics and behaviors that may be similar as well as different to the other primates and ours.

The fundamental physical prerequisites of people , just like all organisms , are : water, for various metabolic process; foods, to provide energy, raw materials for developing entirely new living matter, as well as chemical substances required for vital reactions; oxygen, to discharge energy from foods materials; heat, to enhance chemical effects; and also pressure, to enable inhaling and exhaling” This like this article and think that it relates to . To be able to understand how humans evolved from early existence forms, we can quickly take a look at our closest relatives, the primates. Primates consist of us (Homo sapiens), the apes, the monkeys, as well as prosimians, for example, the lemur. We can easily be familiar with primate behavior

An observational study conducted, concluded that wild capuchins use anvils and stone pounding tools as a means to facilitate nut-cracking . In the study, a group of ten wild capuchin monkeys where observed in a habitat that is scarce in food, aside from palms. There are different types of palm nuts, larger ones with an oval shape and smaller ones that are as small as 2.5 to 3 cm in diameter. It is interesting to note that many different anvil sites were observed, and what is more interesting is that on the anvil sites, river pebbles were seen and since these are not usually found in the area, it can be assumed that capuchins transport their stones to the anvil sites. An abundance of palms, yet otherwise limited food, has contributed to tool use for nut-cracking becoming a common routine. As a result of the study, wild capuchins were directly observed using anvils as tools for stone pounding. Additionally, characteristic depressions on anvils as well as palm shells and stone pounding tools leftovers indicate nut-cracking. Capuchin monkey choose anvil sites that provide a flat surface to facilitate nut-cracking, often the anvils used by capuchins are made of sandstone or siltstone, but they can also be boulders and fallen trees Essentially anything in the capuchin’s vicinity, that could provide a suitable substrate. When capuchins crack palm nuts, they typically hold the selected stone using both hands and stand in a bipedal

The animal I have chosen to study is the Japanese macaque, more commonly known as the Japanese snow monkey. Sir David Attenborough recently described the macaque as “one of the most successful and versatile of all primates”, commending its capacity to be “versatile, resilient, enterprising, tough and capable of surviving in extreme conditions”. This essay will continue by examining the Japanese macaque in a number of ways. Firstly, I will describe the physical characteristics of the animal, paying particular attention to the way in which their appearance has adapted to enable them to dominate in their habitat. Secondly, I will discuss the environment in which the macaques live in and the unique capabilities they maximise to develop a

Isbell and Wright’s articles both focus on monkey species and their native environments, Africa for Isbell’s (1994) vervet Old World monkey and South America, Peru area, for Wright’s (1994) owl and titis monkeys. The articles main focus is the relationship between these monkeys and their natural predators. Focusing on how the predator aspect of their lives is determined by their environment and adaptations they make to ensure survival. Isbell’s Vervets Year of Doom focuses more on the adaptations that was forced upon the vervets’ because of their changing environment, the death of fever trees. While Wright’s Night Watch on the Amazon focusses more on how the primates way of life affects their relationship with predators and the likelihood of attacks. Both articles have similar aspects however the species way of life, specifically their environment and sleep schedule, are quite different as well as the authors way of observing and studying the primates within their habitats.

The use of tools comes to practice everyday as chimpanzees collect food from the jungle. Goodall describes how chimpanzees in Tanzania’s Gombe National Park use straw and blades of grass poke holes to hunt for termites by “squatting beside the termite nest, pushing and withdrawing the long grass stem through a hole”. Moreover, during Gooddal’s research, she observed chimpanzees modifying tools, such as small leafy twigs, thus showing the beginnings of tool making. Chimpanzees in West Africa also use tools to get honey from underground bees’ nests. Recently, scientists found out that chimpanzees living in West Savannah use deadly spears from sticks and hand crafted tools to hunt for small animals.

The hands are hook-like, with four elongated, curved, fingers.” (The author) then goes on to describe how the thumb of the brown spider monkey is “reduced,” which is helps in swinging and gripping branches while the monkey travels in the upper canopy of the rainforest. The coloration of brown spider monkeys ranges from light to dark brown on the upper parts of their body and their head, while the inside of the arms and legs is a slightly lighter color of brown. Some individuals of the brown spider monkey population also possess the conspicuous characteristic of a white triangular forehead patch. Behaviorally, the brown spider monkey is a diurnal and very social species. They live in what are known as “fission-fusion” societies in which smaller groups, up to about 30 members, are formed during the day. Male spider monkeys usually travel in all male groups while females travel with other females and their offspring, though it is not necessarily unusual to find a brown spider monkey traveling or foraging alone. At night, brown spider monkeys sleep in trees in the high canopy away from most predators. They choose a location to sleep that is near a fruit tree so they do not have to travel far the next day to find food. Differences in sizes of these groups occur due to varying availability of fruit. When fruit is abundant, the groups tend to be larger and when the amount of fruit is limited they

Color vision is an evolutionary trait that provides primates with significant reproductive and survival value (Gomes, Pessoa, Suganuma, Tomaz, & Pessoa, 2002). However, the quantity and quality of color vision varies within and between species in the primate lineage. Primates are divided into four groups Apes, New World, Old World, and Prosimians. The New World primates are located in the rainforests of South America and surrounding areas, while the other groups of primates are distributed across Africa and Asia (Regan et al., 2005). The vast range of geographical locations inhabited by primates provide images of food requirements that vary dramatically based on environmental conditions.

The observations of Common Squirrel Monkey (Saimiri sciureus) and Western Gorillas (Gorilla Gorillas) were made on 31th October, 2015 at the San Francisco Zoo where is located on 1 Zoo Road San Francisco, CA 9413. The observations has lasted about 3 hours, from 1:40 pm – 4:40 pm, and each primate has been observing for around 1 to 2 hours. Common Squirrel monkey is a small new

According to Wikipedia, spider monkeys tend to live in medium sized groups of around two or three dozen individuals called troops, averaging at about 15 to 25 individuals in a group. The group will break up into smaller bands on occasion, like to split up to forage for food resources or if there are not enough resources to support the entire group to increase their chances of survival. They are typically found in large, unoccupied areas in the upper layer of the rainforests of Central and South America but can also be found in Mexico. They are primarily arboreal, meaning the spend most of their time swinging from trees, using their prehensile tails to move around. They use their tail as a fifth hand using it to help them

Despite having different jaw shapes, their tooth types share the same function, from grinding and tearing to chewing and crushing (Larsen, 2008). Primates have also gone through multiple evolutionary changes in their dentition, reflecting on the types of foods they have eaten. Premolars and molars of primates, which were often used for grinding or crushing their food, have significantly changed and influenced the functions of their teeth (Larsen, 2008). Incisors and canines were often used to pierce and rip through food, such as leaves. This helps indicate different types of food preferences and feeding specialization in primates since they have heterodont dentition, meaning that they have more than one type of tooth (Swindler, 2002). Although the diets within the population of primates have changed significantly, teeth development has not differed (Steinberg, 2003). The differences between non-human primates are quite subtle and their characteristics are relatable to humans when it comes to primate

The first type of primate I observed was a Bolivian Grey Titi Monkey which is a type of new world monkey species found in areas of eastern Bolivia and also can be found in Brazil. The scientific term for this species is Callicebus donacophilus. These types of monkeys have medium sized body

During my research of Orangutans and Mandrills I observed them in captivity at the San Diego Zoo. My observations included a 20 minute observation of each primate as it cohabitated with other Primates and with other members of its own species. My findings will support the research of Orangutans and Mandrills through firsthand observations.

A monkey is a long-tailed, medium-sized member of the order of Primates. The primate order also includes macaques, baboons, guenons, capuchins, marmosets, and tamarins. Monkeys today are a member of two of the three groups of simian primates, the New World monkeys and the Old World monkeys, of which there are 264 known species. Apes and chimpanzees are not scientifically classified as monkeys, a common misconception due to their physical similarities. Some distinguishing features between New World and Old World monkeys include the tail.