Conformism in the food processing techniques of white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus).

ABSTRACT: Researchers of "culture" have long been interested in the role of social learning in establishing patterns of behavioral variation in wild animals, but very few studies examine this issue using a developmental approach. This 7-year study examines the acquisition of techniques used to process Luehea candida fruits in a wild population of white-faced capuchin monkeys, Cebus capucinus, residing in and near Lomas Barbudal Biological Reserve, Costa Rica. The two techniques for extracting seeds (pounding or scrubbing) were approximately equal in efficiency, and subjects experimented with both techniques before settling on one technique-typically the one they most frequently observed. In a sample of 106 subjects that had already settled on a preferred technique, the females adopted the maternal t

SUBMITTER: Perry S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2728904 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature