General Information
Grooming Behavior and Cooperative Altruism
Maternal Care and Alloparenting
There are four species of the Cebus apella, three “nontufted” species: C. capucinus, C. albifrons, and C. olivaceus and the “tufted” C. apella (Robinson and Janson, 1987). The brown capuchin monkey (C. apella) gets its name from the Capuchin monk, whose cowl the monkeys’ head-coloring resembles. All of the species are closely related to other monkeys within the Cebidae family, especially the spider and squirrel monkey. Further, the capuchin is a curious animal, exploring everything within reach as it travels throughout its’ home range.
Adult capuchins weigh 2.5-4.0 kg with male capuchins weighing, on average, 35% more than female capuchins (DiBitetti, 1997; animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu). The capuchin is 12.6-22 inches tall, with an additional 12-22 inches consisting of their tail (Kleinman, Geist, McDade, 2003). They have a stocky, medium-sized body with a deep lower jaw that juts out to accommodate for their diet of rough vegetation and large fruits. All capuchins are characterized by round heads, large eyes and spherical muzzles (Kleinman et al, 2003).Capuchins have arms approximately the same length as their legs, opposable thumbs and big toes that enable them to move with great agility among the rainforest canopy (Kleinman et al, 2003; Robinson and Janson, 1987). Fur covers their entire body and tail with the coloration varying from buff to black among the different species. Unique to the brown capuchin is that it carries its’ tail in a tight coil behind it while traveling (animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu).
Photo courtesy of: Jim Bourg at MSNBC
Capuchins have comparatively large and developed brains for their body size, which is indicative of their ability to complete intricate tasks while in captivity (Kleinman et al, 2003). In fact, the capuchin monkey is deemed to be the most intelligent New World Monkey because of their developed brain (www.wellingtonzoo.com).Their high intelligence level has lead many cognitive psychologists to use them for animal behavior research. Further, young capuchins are easily trained, resulting in them being trained as helper animals for paraplegics. Capuchins are able to move in three-dimensional space and retrieve items for their human counterparts, demonstrating that they are more helpful than dogs because of their ability to freely move their hands and forelimbs (Kleinman et al, 2003; Jolly, 1994).
This webpage was created by Kathleen Tanner in partial fulfillment of requirements for an undergraduate biology class in Animal Behavior at Davidson Collegein Spring 2005. Questions should be addressed to katanner@davidson.edu.