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Capuchin (Cebus apella) Tool Use in a Captive Naturalistic Environment

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Abstract

Captive tufted capuchins are proficient at both tool use and manufacture. However, their capacity to comprehend cause-effect relationships as they relate to tool use is a subject of debate. An ability to conceptualize task requirements in assessing the appropriateness of potential tools would be essential to efficient tool use in the wild. Observations of tool use among free-ranging populations of Cebus are extremely limited, and the importance of this behavior to capuchin feeding ecology is unclear. I tested tufted capuchins' ability to conceive solutions to a probing task in a naturalistic captive setting. Three out of 5 participants demonstrated an ability to consistently make and use tools selected from a wide variety of natural materials within a forest exhibit. Over 98% (N = 140) of the tools that they modified enabled them to successfully acquire food rewards. It is likely that wild Cebus apella shares this ability, and that tool use occurs under a highly specific set of natural conditions.

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  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois, 109 Davenport Hall, 607 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, 61801

    Anthea C. Lavallee

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Lavallee, A.C. Capuchin (Cebus apella) Tool Use in a Captive Naturalistic Environment. International Journal of Primatology 20, 399–414 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020552821280

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