Tufted capuchin monkeys (Sapajus sp) learning how to crack nuts: Does variability decline throughout development?

Resende, Briseida Dôgo de; Nagy‐Reis, Mariana B.; Lacerda, Fernanda Neves; Pagnotta, Murillo; Savalli, Carine

doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2014.09.002

Cited by 19 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 19 publications

(24 reference statements)

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“…Extractive foraging is an activity that involves complex manipulation and often requires the use of sequential specific actions (e.g., Cochet & Byrne, ; Gunst et al, ; Parker & Gibson ) and many papers indicate it could be a driver for increased laterality and handedness (Brown & Magat, ; Fagot & Vauclair, ; Heldstab et al, ; MacNeilage, ). Moreover, the manipulative complexity of extractive foraging seems to intensify during tool use, which requires diverse manual actions combined with strength, precision, bimanually coordinated movements, and more cognitive skills (Heldstab et al, ; Parker & Gibson, ; Resende, Nagy‐Reis, Lacerda, Pagnnota, & Savalli, ). Tool use is considered as a driver for right handedness (e.g., Forrester, Quaresmini, Leavens, Mareschal, & Thomas, ; Frost, ; Hopkins et al, ; Moura, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hand preferences and differences in extractive foraging in seven capuchin monkey species

Andrade

Sousa

2018

American J Primatol

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Tool use and extractive foraging could be drivers for right hand use preference. The robust capuchins, Sapajus, are more specialized for destructive and extractive foraging than the gracile capuchins, Cebus. Thus, we predicted them to show right-hand preference and higher rates of extractive foraging when compared to the gracile capuchins. We hypothesized that capuchins that evolved in dry habitats are predisposed to show higher rates of extractive foraging and right-hand preference. We employed the tube task (152 individuals) and an extractive foraging task (212 individuals) in seven species of capuchins in captive settings. Data on hand preference and extractive foraging were collected using focal and scan sampling, respectively. Contrary to our hypothesis, S. libidinosus showed significant left hand preference, while S. robustus and S. flavius showed a right hand preference. The species S. xanthosternos, S. flavius, and S. robustus engaged in extractive foraging significantly more often than S. apella, S. libidinosus, and Cebus albifrons. As expected, the gracile capuchins showed significant higher left-hand bias when compared to the robust capuchins. The findings from this study is the first indication of left-hand population level laterality in S. libidinosus, a species that evolved in an environment selecting for increased tool use. Although tool use has been associated with population level right handedness, or a strong trend to use the right hand, our results suggest the link between tool use and right-hand preference is simplistic, at least in Sapajus. The ultimate explanation for the differences in hand preference across species might be due to differences in use of key food resources. We suggest that capuchin monkeys from the Atlantic forest evolved under a stronger selective pressure for high reliance on bimanual feeding and extractive foraging, which requires more sequential actions and planning, than those species from the Amazonia forest and Caatinga/Cerrado dry forest.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hand preferences and differences in extractive foraging in seven capuchin monkey species

Andrade

Sousa

2018

American J Primatol

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“…Capuchin monkeys’ diet includes many foods that require special handling and extraction techniques [e.g., Agostini and Visalberghi, ; Fragaszy, ; Gunst et al, , ; Melin et al, ; O'Malley and Fedigan, ,; Panger et al, ; Perry and Jiménez, ; Wright et al, ]. Since cashew nuts require extractive processing as well, we expected the age of an individual (that reflects her/his experience in processing food), will correlate with efficiency, although it is likely that efficiency reaches an asymptote at a certain age, as it does for other foods [Resende et al, ]. Many food processing behaviors emerge early in life but need extended practice to be effective or properly executed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors affecting cashew processing by wild bearded capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus, Kerr 1792)

Visalberghi

Albani

Ventricelli

et al. 2016

American J Primatol

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Cashew nuts are very nutritious but so well defended by caustic chemicals that very few species eat them. We investigated how wild bearded capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) living at Fazenda Boa Vista (FBV; Piauí, Brazil) process cashew nuts (Anacardium spp.) to avoid the caustic chemicals contained in the seed mesocarp. We recorded the behavior of 23 individuals toward fresh (N = 1282) and dry (N = 477) cashew nuts. Adult capuchins used different sets of behaviors to process nuts: rubbing for fresh nuts and tool use for dry nuts. Moreover, adults succeed to open dry nuts both by using teeth and tools. Age and body mass significantly affected success. Signs of discomfort (e.g., chemical burns, drooling) were rare. Young capuchins do not frequently closely observe adults processing cashew nuts, nor eat bits of nut processed by others. Thus, observing the behavior of skillful group members does not seem important for learning how to process cashew nuts, although being together with group members eating cashews is likely to facilitate interest toward nuts and their inclusion into the diet. These findings differ from those obtained when capuchins crack palm nuts, where observations of others cracking nuts and encounters with the artifacts of cracking produced by others are common and support young individuals' persistent practice at cracking. Cashew nut processing by capuchins in FBV appears to differ from that observed in a conspecific population living 320 km apart, where capuchins use tools to open both fresh and dry nuts. Moreover, in the latter population, chemical burns due to cashew caustic compounds appear to be common. The sources of these differences across populations deserve investigation, especially given that social influences on young monkeys learning to open cashew nuts at FBV seem to be nonspecific. Am. J. Primatol. 78:799-815, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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“…However, other taxa show clear age‐related variation in time spent foraging or feeding (Janson and van Schaik, ; Corp and Bryne, 2002; Hanya, ; Johnson and Bock, ; O'Malley and Fedigan, ; Gunst et al, ), food intake rates (Post et al, ; van Schaik and van Noordwijk, ; Boinski and Fragaszy, ; Janson and van Schaik, ; Corp and Bryne, 2002; Hanya, ; Johnson and Bock, ; Gunst et al, ; Jaeggi et al, ), or execution of complex food processing behaviors (Boinski and Fragaszy, ; Krakauer, ; Gunst et al, , 2010a,b). These age differences in foraging and feeding strategies have been explained by differences in body size and strength, inexperience with searching or processing techniques, or the interaction of these factors (Boinski and Fragaszy, ; Janson and van Schaik, ; Joffe, ; Corp and Bryne, 2002; Resende et al, ; Fragaszy et al, , Gunst et al, ).…”

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confidence: 99%

Age‐related variation in the mechanical properties of foods processed by Sapajus libidinosus

Chalk

Wright

Lucas

et al. 2015

American J Phys Anthropol

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Although it has been suggested that juveniles avoid mechanically protected foods, age-related differences in feeding competence are not solely due to variation in food toughness or stiffness. Other factors related to food type (e.g., learning complex behavioral sequences, achieving manual dexterity, obtaining physical strength to lift stone tools, or recognizing subtle cues about food state) combined with food mechanical properties better explain variation in juvenile feeding competency.

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Tufted capuchin monkeys (Sapajus sp) learning how to crack nuts: Does variability decline throughout development?

Cited by 19 publications

References 19 publications

Hand preferences and differences in extractive foraging in seven capuchin monkey species

Hand preferences and differences in extractive foraging in seven capuchin monkey species

Factors affecting cashew processing by wild bearded capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus, Kerr 1792)

Age‐related variation in the mechanical properties of foods processed by Sapajus libidinosus

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