Capuchin monkeys

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Capuchin monkeys
Panama capuchin monkey (Cebus imitator)

Panama capuchin monkey ( Cebus imitator )

Systematics
Order : Primates (Primates)
Subordination : Dry- nosed primates (Haplorrhini)
Partial order : Monkey (anthropoidea)
without rank: New World Monkey (Platyrrhini)
Family : Capuchins (Cebidae)
Subfamily : Capuchin monkeys
Scientific name
Cebinae
Bonaparte , 1831
The black capuchin ( Cebus nigritus ) is a member of the hooded group

The capuchin monkeys (Cebinae) are a group of primates from the group of the New World monkeys . They are forest-dwelling, omnivorous animals that live in groups. The subfamily is divided into over 20 species.

features

Capuchin monkeys are medium-sized primates. They reach a head body length of 31 to 56 centimeters, the tail becomes 30 to 56 centimeters long. At around 2 to 3 kilograms, the females are significantly lighter than the males, who weigh 3 to 4 kilograms. The trunk is slim, the front and rear limbs are approximately the same length. The fingers are short and the thumb is opposable , which makes these primates very skilled at hand. The tail can be grasped, but is not a fully developed grasping tail with a hairless skin area, as occurs in the spotted monkeys.

The color of the fur is variable, mostly the trunk is kept in brown or black tones. The arms, legs and tail are often darker, and sometimes the color of the shoulder area or chest contrasts with the rest of the body. In the hooded species group, the hair on the top of the head forms a conspicuous tuft, in the others not, but often the top of the head is also colored in a contrasting color. They owe their name to this color, which is said to resemble the robes of the order of the Capuchins .

distribution and habitat

Capuchin monkeys live on the American continent, their range extends from Central America ( Honduras ) over the Amazon basin to southeastern Brazil and northern Argentina . Their habitat is forests, although they are more flexible than other New World monkeys and can cope with many forest types. They can be found in rainforests as well as in dry deciduous forests, in mangrove and mountain forests.

Ecology and way of life

Like most New World monkeys, capuchin monkeys are diurnal tree dwellers. In the branches they usually move on all fours, when they eat they sometimes only hang by their tail. Occasionally they also come to the floor. At night they sleep on tall trees that are supposed to protect them from predators.

During the day, wild capuchin monkeys spend about 42% of their time moving, 40% buying and eating, and 6% socializing. Rest periods mainly take place during lunchtime and make up about 14 to 21% of the day's activity. The activity pattern of the animals can change slightly over the course of the year, for example the rest periods are longer during the dry season than in the rainy season.

Capuchin monkeys are territorial animals, the core area of ​​the territory is marked with urine and defended against intruders, but areas often overlap in the outer zones. The territory of a group of capuchin monkeys can be 80 to over 300 hectares, with the animals covering distances between 1.0 and 3.5 kilometers per day within this area.

What is unusual for New World monkeys is the fact that different species of capuchin monkeys live sympatric side by side in certain regions , e.g. B. Sapajus apella lives with Cebus olivaceus and Cebus albifrons in some regions .

Natural enemies include large birds of prey , cats, and snakes .

food

The diet of the capuchin monkeys is diverse. The main component is made up of fruits, seeds play an important role in the dry season. In addition to other plant components such as buds, they also eat insects, spiders and other small animals, sometimes also bird eggs and small vertebrates. They are also known to use tools : they use stones to dig up roots or crack nuts. The use of stones to crack open hard nuts can be attributed to several factors. On the one hand, there is the possibility of obtaining important nutrients in the drier landscapes or the drier seasons, on the other hand, opening the fruit requires only a small amount of energy and could thus be viewed as an opportunistic method of obtaining food. In addition, the extraction of specific nutrients may play a decisive role.

Social organization

Capuchin monkeys live in groups of around 8 to 30 animals, the mean group size is around 18 animals. A group consists of several adult males and females and the common offspring. It is organized in a matrilineal manner, which means that the females usually stay in their birth group, while males leave the group when they reach sexual maturity and seek connection with another group.

Both sexes establish a hierarchy that affects, among other things, access to food resources and reproduction. The dominant male is the center of group attention and leads the group, thus determining the direction in the foraging for food and also determining whether the group is hiking or resting. All other males and females are subordinate to the dominant female.

Mutual grooming and a multitude of sounds serve to communicate and strengthen group cohesion.

Reproduction

White-fronted capuchin ( Cebus albifrons )

Every two years, the female gives birth to a young after a gestation period of 150 to 180 days. This first clings to the mother's stomach, and later to her back. Capuchin monkey fathers rarely take part in the rearing of the young, but sometimes other female group members. After a few months to over a year, they are weaned, and sexual maturity occurs at four to five years of age. Specimens kept in captivity can live to be over 50 years old; in the wild, life expectancy is likely to be 15 to 25 years.

Capuchin monkeys and humans

Capuchin monkeys are among the most intelligent New World monkeys and are often kept in laboratories. In many cases they are also kept as pets , and they are also often found in zoos and animal shows. They were often the companions of organ barrel players and still appear in various performances today. A species-appropriate keeping is guaranteed in the rarest of cases. In the USA there are projects in which capuchin monkeys are trained to help physically disabled people.

In the wild, capuchin monkeys are usually not endangered species due to their adaptability and their wide range. Sometimes they are hunted, either for their meat or because they plunder plantations and are seen as a plague. In some regions they have become rare due to the destruction of their habitat. The species in the densely populated northeast and east of Brazil are particularly affected by the destruction of their habitat and are therefore endangered.

Systematics

The capuchin monkeys together with the squirrel monkeys make up the family of capuchin-like (Cebidae). Sometimes the marmosets are also included in this group.

On the basis of the hair on the head, the body proportions and the skull morphology, the capuchin monkeys can be divided into two genera, the hooded (with a mop of hair) and the uncoupled. A total of two genera and over twenty species are distinguished:

Four types of hooded capuchins, clockwise from top left:
Sapajus flavius , Sapajus xanthosternos , Sapajus libidinosus and Sapajus nigritus

literature

  • Thomas Geissmann : Comparative Primatology. Springer-Verlag, Berlin et al. 2003, ISBN 3-540-43645-6 .
  • Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .
  • Don E. Wilson, DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World. A taxonomic and geographic Reference. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Schröpel: New World Primates . Volume 2: Capuchin monkeys to spider monkeys. Books on Demand GmbH, Norderstedt (2010), ISBN 978-3-8391-5720-6
  2. ↑ Jessica W. Lynch Alfaro, Jean P. Boubli, Link E. Olson, Anthony Di Fiore, Bryan Wilson, Gustavo A. Gutiérrez ‐ Espeleta, Kenneth L. Chiou, Meredith Schulte, Sarah Neitzel, Vanessa Ross, Doreen Schwochow, Mai TT Nguyen, Izeni Farias, Charles H. Janson and Michael E. Alfaro: Explosive Pleistocene range expansion leads to widespread Amazonian sympatry between robust and gracile capuchin monkeys. Journal of Biogeography 39 (2), 2012, pp. 272-288, doi: 10.1111 / j.1365-2699.2011.02609.x
  3. ^ AC de A. Moura, PC Lee: Capuchin Stone Tool Use in Caatinga Dry Forest. Science 306 (5703), 2004, p. 1909, doi: 10.1126 / science.1102558
  4. ↑ Ricardo Almeida Emidio and Reanata Conçalves Ferreira: Energetic Payoff of Tool Use for Capuchin Monkeys in the Caatinga: Variation by Season and Habitat Type. American Journal of Primatology 74, 2012, pp. 332-343
  5. ↑ Homepage of Monkeyhelpers
  6. ↑ for example in Wilson and Reeder 2005
  7. ↑ JW Lynch Alfaro, JS Silva and AB Rylands: How Different Are Robust and Gracile Capuchin Monkeys? An Argument for the Use of Sapajus and Cebus. American Journal of Primatology 74 (4), 2012, pp. 273-286, doi: 10.1002 / ajp.22007
  8. ↑ Horacio Schneider, Iracilda Sampaio: The systematics and evolution of New World primates - A review. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 82 B, 2015, pp. 348-357, doi: 10.1016 / j.ympev.2013.10.017
  9. ^ Russell A. Mittermeier , Anthony B. Rylands, and Don E. Wilson : Handbook of the Mammals of the World: Primates: 3. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, ​​2013, pp. 398-413, ISBN 978-8496553897

Web links

Commons : Capuchin Monkeys  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files