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When and where to practice: social influences on the development of nut-cracking in bearded capuchins (Sapajus libidinosus)

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Abstract

The habitual use of tools by wild capuchin monkeys presents a unique opportunity to study the maintenance and transmission of traditions. Young capuchins spend several years interacting with nuts before cracking them efficiently with stone tools. Using a two-observer method, we quantified the magnitude of the social influences that sustain this long period of practice. During five collection periods (over 26 months), one observer recorded the behavior of 16 immature monkeys, and another observer concurrently recorded behavior of group members in the focal monkey’s vicinity. The two-observer method provides a means to quantify distinct social influences. Data show that immatures match the behavior of the adults in time and especially in space. The rate of manipulation of nuts by the immatures quadrupled when others in the group cracked and ate nuts, and immatures were ten times more likely to handle nuts and 40 times more likely to strike a nut with a stone when they themselves were near the anvils. Moreover, immature monkeys were three times more likely to be near an anvil when others were cracking. We suggest a model for social influence on nut-cracking development, based on two related processes: (1) social facilitation from observing group members engaged in nut-cracking, and (2) opportunity for practice provided by the anvils, hammer stones and nut shells available on and around the anvils. Nut-cracking activities by others support learning by drawing immatures to the anvils, where extended practice can take place, and by providing materials for practice at these places.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the people who helped collect the data: Kelly Laity, Jessica Tinker, Ani Popp, Carlos Carvalho, Michele Verderane, Natalie Schwob, Andrès B. Ardila; and especially Samara, Marcio, and Marcos Fonseca Oliveira, Marino Gomes de Oliveira and the entire Oliveira family, for their help and their permission to work on their land. Permits to EthoCebus research were given by IBAMA SISBIO: 28689-3 and CNPq: 002547/2011-2. The research was funded by the National Geographic Society, the University of Georgia, CAPES—Coordenadoria de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, FAPESP—São Paulo Research Foundation, and CNPq—The Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (STREP Contr. No 029088). We thank the statistical consulting service at University of Georgia for their help in analyzing the data, and the University of Georgia Graduate School’s Dean’s award for the funding of this service.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

    Y. Eshchar & D. Fragaszy

  2. University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

    P. Izar & B. Resende

  3. Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council, Rome, Italy

    E. Visalberghi

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  1. Y. Eshchar
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  2. P. Izar
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  3. E. Visalberghi
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  4. B. Resende
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  5. D. Fragaszy
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Correspondence to Y. Eshchar.

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We declare that the study complies with Brazilian current laws regulating animal care and use, and with the guidelines for research with animals as outlined by the Association for the Study of Animal Behavior.

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Eshchar, Y., Izar, P., Visalberghi, E. et al. When and where to practice: social influences on the development of nut-cracking in bearded capuchins (Sapajus libidinosus). Anim Cogn 19, 605–618 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-016-0965-6

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