Introduction: Capuchin Monkeys are well known for their brains, their intelligence is considered to be the most agile in all of the new world primates. They can be seen up in the trees of Central and South America. This is where their geological preference to live is, up high in trees and they are very superb at doing so. Their ability to survive is phenomenal despite all of the shortcomings that are all possible to face in the wild. From their unique fur colorization, their fur is white from head to shoulders while from the shoulders down there color is black. The locomotion that they use to maneuver swinging from tree to tree is by using all four limbs and for a short period of time they can walk on two legs. Capuchin monkeys are uniquely different and surprisingly very knowledgeable at what they do in order to be able to maintain their survival based on learned and experimental behaviors. Tool Use among Wild Capuchins: Seeing that, capuchin monkeys are wise in many expansive ways, one of which is in the way they use wildlife tools. Capuchin monkeys were observed in using hammer stones to break nuts for food, which often than not weighed their own body mass (Whiten 2). This explains, their intelligent level to be able to use tools in supporting their need to fend for themselves. Another is how in an experiment, researchers wanted to test the capuchins intelligence strength, by observing if the capuchin would select different stick-shaped tools based
The time interval that I analyzed this animal was from 11:30am to 11:50am and this monkey actually had a very active behavior and it was really a good experience to observe this monkey. The immediate physical description I was able to analyze from this primate was that it was black with a very long tail that later I was able to find out that it was actually a prehensile tail. The common behavior in this one was much walking and sitting during my analyzation. It was interesting to see the locomotion of this animal because I was able to see that it was both Quadrupedal and Bipedal. From the knowledge I have gotten from this class I know having that is a great advantage especially for the fact that it even uses it’s prehensile tail because it means they can travel for a much longer time compared to the primates that have only the locomotion of a quadrupedal. During my observation there was a point where the monkey was just prone on the cage and I thought it was almost going to pee on me because its genteel parts became very red so I stepped away from the cage. The primate at no time peed during my observation so that was a relief.
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.
Within this essay, we will study more in depth the behavioral as well as physical traits of two primates at a zoo from their interaction with their peers to their place in the group. This observation would enable us to further understand the possible existing correlation between humans and primates. First, I studied a female chimpanzee with her baby, and then, a dominant male gorilla, in San Francisco Zoo at about noon, on May 23, 2015, for an hour each. Even though they share some similarities such as having a large brain, living for a long time, and being bored in their enclosure, they are still different; when gorillas are the largest, chimpanzees are the smartest. In fact, chimps use tools to catch food, they would not be able to reach
One study attempted to observe capuchin monkey’s ability to recognize cause and effect relationship in regards to tool use. An article in the international journal or primatology by Anthea Lavallee, describes the tests she conducted in a captive naturalistic environment on capuchin monkeys, as she writes, “I tested tufted capuchins' ability to conceive solutions to a probing task in a naturalistic captive setting” . The results showed at 3 out of the 5 capuchin monkeys displayed an ability to make and use tools that were presented to them from a wide variety of natural materials presented. Another study on the manipulation and tool use in captive yellow breasted capuchin monkeys was published in the “International Journal of Comparative Psychology” . This experiment consisted of six capuchin monkeys, who were placed in an environment where their tool using was tested and observed. The tools that were made available to the monkeys were transparent 9mm Plexiglas boxes with 3mm Plexiglas lids as well as different size stones. A piece of food was then placed into the box with the stones next to it and left for the capuchins. Each test subject was left isolated with the tools and box from the other test subjects, the subjects where successful if they used the stones to try and
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 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
This paper aims to study the traits of non-human primates. By observing two types of primates including Common Squirrel Monkey (Saimiri sciureus) and Western Gorillas (Gorilla Gorillas), I try to find out their characteristics, pattern of their behavior, and differences between these two primate species. Especially, characteristics and behavior such as social interaction, food acquisition and intelligence will be discussed and compared in this paper. In order to enhance the persuasiveness of my observation, I recorded and examined at least 25 distinct characteristics of both Common Squirrel Monkeys and Western Gorillas. It is also helpful for me to compare these two primates. Apart from exploring the primates’ traits and differentiation between them, this paper will discuss the effects of captivity. How being in captivity and on display in a zoo would influence their behaviors and emotions? The observation was a great success and I have successfully derived with a hypothesis base on our observing data. The ultimate goal of this paper is arousing humans’ awareness of the importance of studying primates.
Primate intelligence correlates to primate cognition which is the study of the intellectual and behavioral skills of primates (Low). In the book Human Evolution and Culture, chapter five "Human Evolution Biological and Culture" states that primates share a lot of common features with mammals but what makes them uniquely different than many other mammals is that primates have a wide range of physical and social traits (86). The social relationships of primates are unique because just like humans, they relationship begin with the mother and other adults that the younger dependable primates. "The dependency of infant primates offers an evolutionary benefit that allows infant primates more time to examine and master the intricate behaviors necessary to survival while enjoying the care and protection of mature adults."(87) Primates have the privilege of having a large brain the size similar to body size to learn the culture and the way of life they live. Larger brains give primates the advantage to obtain an enormous amount of learning and integrate data. Primates have a special gift in areas of their brain that's dedicated to speech and language. (94) Primates have the special ability to communicate with each other as well as with humans and are the "only habitual toolmaking animal" (96). Although primates are more cognitively advanced than many other animals/mammals, researchers and critics still debate on how to define, compare and study intelligence and the growth of
Primates first evolved from the trees of tropical forests, later to the ground. Through the times of promisians to human, many characteristics has been represented due to the adaptations to new environments and resulted in evolutionary changes. The Earth has encountered several geological and climatic changes over time. For the primates existed at that time had to adjust itself especially in body configurations and locomotion in order to better survive. It is important to be aware of this information since we are the part of occurring changes as well. Throughout the evolution owing to
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
Kavanagh, M. & Morris, D. (1983). Complete guide to monkeys, apes and other primates. London: Viking Press.
While some Neotropical primate species use the forest floor extensively, others tend to exploit the ground only when necessary. A recent overview of ground use by Pitheciidae covered Pitheciinae (uacaris - Cacajao, cuxius - Chiropotes and sakis - Pithecia), but did not include titi monkeys (Callicebiinae: Callicebus, Cheracebus and Plecturocebus). However, unlike the generally high-canopy Pitheciinae, members of the Callibiinae often use low forest strata and disturbed fragments, putting them in closer contact with the ground, but the terrestrial repertoire of this group is so far unknown. We provide a comprehensive review that combines existing literature with unpublished data and field observations of terrestrial behavior to encompass a total of 72 titi monkey studies from 55 locations in South America.
Some people think animals are dumb but they are just calling themselves dumb. Animals are smart because in the article speaking bonobo it states, “ Kanzi touched the symbols for fire and marshmallow, then hi was given matches and marshmallows on a stick…” The animal had to remember the marshmallow symbol and the fire symbol to want them.
Many of the primates, have hands that allow them to have a firm grip similar to humans. This is essential to primates such as apes and orangutans, seeing that it allows them to swing from tree-to-tree. Humans need to grip in order to complete many basic tasks such as writing of opening a door. Apes, for example, use their hands to utilize tools to allow them to crack open nuts. Not only do they require the use of their hands to crack open nuts, but it also requires intelligence. Apes determine how much force they need to apply on the nut with the use of their tools in order to only crush the shell and not the nut. Humans are are the smartest of all the primates and use their intelligence on an everyday basis. Orangutans live in the rain forest