Brazilian Capuchin Stone Tool Use

Researchers from Oxford University, working in Brazil, found new archaeological evidence suggests that Brazilian capuchins have been using stone tools to crack open cashew nuts for at least 700 years. Researchers say, to date, they have found the earliest archaeological examples of monkey tool use outside of Africa. In their paper, published in Current Biology,...

The Semantics of Vervet Monkey Alarm Calls: Part I

Anti-predatory alarm calls are important  for social animals to alert others of approaching predators. Without the presence of "language", some non-human primates are known to give out different predator-specific alarm calls to alert conspecific. These non-human primates include ring-tailed lemurs (Zuberbühler et al., 1999), white-faced capuchin monkeys (Fichtel et al., 2005), Diana monkeys (Zuberbühler, 1999), Campbell's monkeys...

Habitat Fragmentation’s Effect on an Endangered Indian Primate, the Lion-tailed Macaque

By: Kristin Abt The Lion-tailed Macaque (Macaca silenus) is an endangered cercopithecine primate native to the Western Ghats region of India, described as one of the primary hotspots of biodiversity in the world (Kumara & Singh, 2004).  IUCN (2010) estimates a mere 2,500 mature individuals with a total population size of 4,000 individuals.  Furthermore, these...

Spotlight on the Urban Ecology of Long-tailed Macaques

The study of conservation biology, and its oft-times competitor - urbanization, is increasingly relevant to the study of primatology. As a species, long-tailed macaques demonstrate a number of conflicts and potential implications of the urbanization occurring in primate-habitat countries. The long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis) is the third-most common primate in the world with an extensive range...

Wild Spider Monkeys use Tools to Scratch Their Body

A Geoffroy's Spider Monkey hanging on the branch. Photo from Primate Info Net. Wild Geoffroy's Spider Monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) or Black-handed Spider Monkeys had been documented using tools to scratch themselves, according to a new publication "Tool use in wild spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi)". Important to note that spider monkeys do not have thumbs, only...

Conchita, the three-week-old white-naped mangabey monkey

Pictured in this post is Conchita, a three-week-old white-naped mangabey monkey who is being hand-reared at London Zoo. Her mother is recovering from a cesarean. Photos were found from this news piece.