Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Cebus”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 505 records · Page 28Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Behavioral development and maternal care in tufted capuchins (Cebus apella) and squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) from birth through seven months.

Fourteen infant capuchins and eight squirrel monkeys reared by their mothers in captive species-typical social groups were observed from birth through 7 months. Motoric altriciality of the neonatal capuchin relative to the squirrel monkey is a key feature of behavioral differences between the species in the first few months after birth. Infants of the two species differed substantially in age at onset of independent locomotion, the developmental profile of independent activities, and the overall amount and rate of particular social activities. Capuchins displayed a lag of 7 weeks relative to squirrel monkeys in the pattern of increasing time spent alone; lags in other indices of independent activity and exploratory behaviors were also evident, although not as clear-cut. The species also differed substantially in the nature and frequency of social interactions between infants and others. Capuchins, especially later-born infants of multiparous mothers, experienced a more socially interactive infancy than squirrel monkeys. Contrasts in behavioral developmental and infant care in the two species are related to the timing and duration of the weaning process.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1997

Grooming down the hierarchy: allogrooming in captive brown capuchin monkeys, Cebus apella

Observations of captive female brown capuchin monkeys in five groups revealed that grooming is primarily the occupation of dominant females at both the individual and dyadic levels. When categorized according to rank class, alpha females were the only class to perform significantly more grooming than they received. These results are inconsistent with reports on vervets, baboons and macaques, and suggest that grooming in capuchin monkeys may have different functions from those reported for cercopithecine primates. A dyadic analysis revealed, however, that grooming occurred more often between closely ranked females, similar to what is seen in several Old World monkey species. Therefore, some aspects of grooming in capuchins are similar to that seen in Old World monkeys, but the way they distribute grooming is different, which may prompt a re-evaluation of current theories regarding the social function of allogrooming in non-human primates.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1997

Capuchin monkeys, Cebus apella fail to understand a cooperative task

We investigated whether capuchin monkeys cooperate to solve a task and to what extent they take into account the behaviour of another individual when cooperating. Two groups of capuchin monkeys (N=5 and 6) were tested in a task whose solution required simultaneous pulling of two handles which were too far from one another to be pulled by one monkey. Before carrying out the cooperation study, individual monkeys were trained to pull one handle (training phase 1) and to pull two handles simultaneously (training phase 2) for a food reward. Nine subjects were successful in training phase 1, and five in training phase 2. In the cooperation study seven subjects were successful, that is, pulled one handle while a companion pulled the other. Further analyses revealed that capuchins did not increase their pulling actions when a partner was close to or at the other handle, that is, when cooperation might occur. These data suggest that capuchin monkeys acted together at the task and got the reward without understanding the role of the partner and without taking its behaviour into consideration. Social tolerance, as well as their tendency to explore and their manual dexterity, were the major factors accounting for the capuchins' success.Copyright 1997 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour1997The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour

Journal Article↗
PubMed1998

Experimental evidence for spatial memory in foraging wild capuchin monkeys, Cebus apella.

Obtaining convincing evidence for spatial memory of natural food sources in wild animals is hard because the observer rarely knows as much about the available food as does the animal, and the ability of the animal to detect novel food sources is usually not measured. In this study, I took advantage of the scarcity of natural fruit sources in the subtropical winter to present a wild group of brown capuchin monkeys with a large-scale array of 15 feeding platforms spaced ca 200 m apart. With this array, I could control the location, productivity and renewal schedule of the major fruit sources used by these animals. Combining an independent measurement of their detection field for these platforms with the known locations of the platforms, I calculated the expected patterns of movement among platform sites by the group under various models of 'random' foraging. These expected patterns were compared to the actual spatial movements of the group. The capuchin group moved significantly more often toward closer platforms and in straighter lines than expected by any random search model using their observed detection field of 82 m, although their behaviour did agree with such models for unrealistically large search fields of 225-350 m. I infer that the movements of this study group are likely to be guided by spatial memory. However, straight-line movement and a preference for closer platforms are in general not convincing evidence for spatial memory unless the detection field of the forager for the resources is known. Copyright 1998 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Copyright 1998 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1999

Infant handling in wild Cebus capucinus: testing bonds between females?

The evolved functions, if any, of infant handling (IH) by female primates remain unclear for many species. I tested a new hypothesis, that IH tests social bonds between adult females, using data on a group of wild white-faced capuchins. I also tested the nonadaptive, learning-to-mother, reciprocity, harassment and alliance-formation hypotheses. Focal subjects were the mothers of 10 infants that ranged in age from 0 to 90 days. The behaviours comprising IH (inspecting, nuzzling, sniffing, and a distinctive vocalization) differed from typical maternal behaviour. Nulliparous females engaged in no more IH than did parous females. The median frequency of rough handling was zero, kidnapping was not observed, and maternal restraint of infants was extremely rare. Infant handling rate was unrelated to the relative dominance ranks of the mother and the handler. Females tended to handle the infants of females with which they groomed and formed aggressive coalitions more frequently. Dyadic IH rates were not correlated with rates of allonursing when the infants were older than 90 days of age. There was no evidence for reciprocal exchanges of IH between females. Mother-terminated IH bouts were longer when the mother had groomed the handler more frequently before the infant's birth. Based on these findings, the learning-to-mother, reciprocity and harassment hypotheses are unsupported for this species. Some support exists for the nonadaptive hypothesis. Contrasting predictions of the bond-testing and alliance-formation hypothesis are presented for future testing. Copyright 1999 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

Response to changes in food palatability in tufted capuchin monkeys, Cebus apella.

Palatability of plant foods may change over time in relation to the concentration of toxic secondary metabolites. We investigated the behavioural response of capuchin monkeys to this type of change and assessed the influence of social conditions. Twenty-seven tufted capuchin monkeys were presented in Social or Individual conditions with a familiar palatable food (phase 1), with the same familiar food to which pepper had been added, making it unpalatable (phase 2), and with the same familiar palatable food of phase 1 (phase 3). Five sessions were carried out in each phase. The capuchins adapted quickly to the change in food palatability by reducing (phase 2) and increasing (phase 3) the amounts of food eaten. The unpalatable food prompted an increase in olfactory exploration and in food processing. The experimental conditions (Social versus Individual) did not influence consumption, or any of the other behaviours. In addition, capuchins were more often near subjects with food in phases 2 and 3 in which palatability changed than in phase 1. These findings show that capuchins readily adjust to changes in flavour and palatability of a familiar food and that sudden unpalatability has no carry-over effects. Therefore, capuchins behave differently towards a familiar food whose palatability has changed than they do towards novel foods. Copyright 2000 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

Journal Article↗