Transport of tools to food sites in tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella)

Abstract

Tool use and transport represent cognitively important aspects of early hominid evolution, and nonhuman primates are often used as models to examine the cognitive, ecological, morphological and social correlates of these behaviors in order to gain insights into the behavior of our early human ancestors. In 2001, Jalles-Filho et al. found that free-ranging capuchin monkeys failed to transport tools (stones) to food sites (nuts), but transported the foods to the tool sites. This result cast doubt on the usefulness of Cebus to model early human tool-using behavior. In this study, we examined the performance of six captive tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) in a tool transport task. Subjects were provided with the opportunity to transport two different tools to fixed food reward sites when the food reward was visible from the tool site and when the food reward was not visible from the tool site. We found that the subjects quickly and readily transported probing tools to an apparatus baited with syrup, but rarely transported stones to a nut-cracking apparatus. We suggest that the performance of the capuchins here reflects an efficient foraging strategy, in terms of energy return, among wild Cebus monkeys.

Accepting loss: the temporal limits of reciprocity in brown capuchin monkeys

“…In a task where subjects have variable chances of obtaining rewards, they may decide to work or not according to their expectations of success (de Waal & Davis 2003). Capuchin monkeys may perform several exchanges in succession to obtain a final reward, they use tools sequentially to achieve a goal, they even transport tools to a food reward site (Westergaard & Suomi 1994;Westergaard et al 1998Westergaard et al , 2004Cleveland et al 2004;Drapier et al 2005). However, the goal-directed behaviours tested in the laboratory did not exceed a time scale measured in seconds.…”

Prehistoria y Primatología: estudio de la conducta instrumental en primates no humanos

“…Hay que señalar que respecto a las habilidades instrumentales del género Australopithecus, se poseen pocas evidencias (e. g. Semaw 2000) y se suelen poner en duda, por lo que nuestra propuesta adquiriría un gran valor heurístico en la reconstrucción de la prehistoria, algo que ya habían señalado otros autores desde distintos ámbitos científicos (Cleveland et al 2004;Goodall 1986;mcGrew 1992;pickering y domínguez-rodrigo 2010;Wrangham 1987). por razones como estas pensamos que los modelos primatológicos son un buen marco referencial para reconstruir una parte de la prehistoria.…”

“…este es uno de los objetivos que se pretende conseguir en este artículo: plantear la idoneidad de los modelos primatológicos para reconstruir el origen del comportamiento humano; algo, por otro lado, ya apuntado por diversos investigadores (Cleveland et al 2004;Goodall 1986;mcGrew 1992;pickering y domínguez-rodrigo 2010;Wrangham 1987). otros propósitos son los de transmitir a la investigación prehistórica española una idea clara de lo que significa la conducta instrumental y de contribuir al final, en la medida de lo posible, del mito del Homo faber, todavía persistente a pesar de la intensa crítica de las últimas décadas debido a su poco convincente peso científico (Serrallonga 1994).…”

Transport of Functionally Appropriate Tools by Capuchin Monkeys (Cebus apella)

“…Under more controlled captive conditions, Westergaard et al [1998] showed that a capuchin capable of two different tool-use tasks (hammer and insertion), could request through token exchange the appropriate tool (stone vs. probe) for whichever apparatus was baited in its cage. Cleveland et al [2004] also conducted a test for selection of an appropriate tool for different apparatuses in capuchins, but included transportation of the tool as part of the design. Tool transport has been well documented in chimpanzees [Boesch & Boesch, 1984] and Visalberghi et al [2007Visalberghi et al [ , 2009b have recently documented that wild capuchins transport stones short distances to anvils, but, at the time of the Cleveland et al [2004] study, capuchins' ability to transport tools to a specific location to obtain food in the wild was implied but not verified [Fragaszy et al, 2004].…”

“…Cleveland et al [2004] also conducted a test for selection of an appropriate tool for different apparatuses in capuchins, but included transportation of the tool as part of the design. Tool transport has been well documented in chimpanzees [Boesch & Boesch, 1984] and Visalberghi et al [2007Visalberghi et al [ , 2009b have recently documented that wild capuchins transport stones short distances to anvils, but, at the time of the Cleveland et al [2004] study, capuchins' ability to transport tools to a specific location to obtain food in the wild was implied but not verified [Fragaszy et al, 2004]. Further, one study of captive capuchins concluded that they were incapable of transporting tools to food [Jalles-Filho et al, 2001].…”