Talk:Tufted capuchin

The identification of the photo
Can anyone idintify the species in the photo, Cebus apella or Cebus libidinosus? If you know which species appear in the photo, would you tell me it, clarifying why that is so? The brief description in The complete capuchin was not so useful for me to identify it. In my recollection, only in recent years, are reserachers likely to distiguish the two monkeys as different species, not subspecies, so I want to point out here the possibility that they're Cebus libidinosus. Shaxshan 13:12, 7 June 2007 (UTC)
 * The image comes from http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.0000077 - UtherSRG (talk) 13:19, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

The distribution
The distribution map doesn't only include the habitat of Cebus apella, but also include that of C. nigritus and C. xanthosternos, does it? Shaxshan (talk) 07:22, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
 * The current map shows only Cebus apella, the previous map was incorrect. Jack (talk) 09:40, 27 February 2011 (UTC)

Addition of Tool Use Section
I added a new section titled Tool Use that is made up of 6 relevant subsections: tool use, conditions favoring tool use, tool manufacture by tufted capuchins, tool manufacture as indicative of early homo tool use, tool manufacture and social learning, and problem solving and tool use. it looks like the section is large only because the rest of the article has been neglected terribly. I will wait a while to see if anyone else updates the other sections to give the article equal weight among all articles, but if i don't see any, i will update this in a few weeks. here are a few relevant justifications for my claims:
 * The six subsections are organized as 3 sections: general use, manufacture, cognition.
 * The reason i made the cognition parts as subsections of tool use instead of their own article is because all the research being done in capuchin cognition by the experts is being done from the perspective of tool use. they are very closely intertwined and separating them would complicate the article unnecessarily.
 * Conditions favoring tool use is useful for readers seeking to connect tool using behavior with other animals or humans. To start this off, one of the most respected experts in the field (Carel van Schaik) has a model that we can use to assess this behavior in the tufted capuchin (and potentially other foraging animals). In a later part of that section, I include studies that support the model, and thus serve as explanations for some capuchin abilities. These are useful for those seeking to provide a theoretical underpinning to their observations.
 * The reference to tool manufacture as indicative of early Homo tool use was intended to again explain important behaviors of the tufted capuchin, but more importantly, how our understanding of their tool manufacture tells us more about their behavioral propensities. Animal cognition is a topic that is often misinterpreted where we attribute higher meaning to complex actions by animals that could be explained by simpler processes. in this case, researchers gave the monkeys rocks and let them break them. the important point is not that they made stone tools (they didn't), rather they had certain ways of cracking them that resemble early Homo flaking techniques. Westergaard 1995 and Cummins 2005 suggest NOT that capuchins would make such tools, rather their behaviors tend to produce similar flakes, suggesting early flaking by humans is likely homologous physically and perhaps at a simple behavioral level. This is an important distinction that capuchin studies with tools have brought forth. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Skaaii (talk • contribs) 17:36, 20 December 2009 (UTC)


 * Great work! Be bold! This kind of contributions don't need to "wait a while", keep editing until someone asks a question either here on the article's talk page or on your talk page.  I don't know a lot on the article subject, so I can't help you a lot with the article.  However, in a few details your section isn't confirming to Wikipedia standards as described in Manual of Style (don't capitalize section headings, simply write tufted capuchin instead of C. apella, put sub-subheadings on a separate line followed by two line-breaks, stuff like that).  Let me know if I can help you in any way.
 * --Fama Clamosa (talk) 19:12, 20 December 2009 (UTC)


 * Good job! I have some comments.
 * The studies you provided include C. apella as well as C. libidinosus (and possibly C. xanthosternos and other tufted species). As Wikipedia distinguishes these species, I wonder whether studies on both species should appear in this C. apella article. We should note that C. apella in the wild was not observed using tools systematically but only in episodic studies.
 * Related to the first point, as you may know, we should note that C. apella in captivity can mean C. libidinosus or other tufted species (or their hybrids) because the scientific name in works on captive capuchins were based sensu Hershkovitz due to the historical circumstances.
 * Conditions favoring tool use: As to capuchins, curiosity should be noted as suggested by Visalberghi (1990). Their tendency to interact with anything around (particularly in their young age), often considered as destructive, would be among the factors which facilitate their tool use.
 * Thanks. -Shaxshan (talk) 03:38, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Cai?
Is this species also referred to as the cai monkey, especially in Argentina? The cai monkey is mentioned in Monkeys in space. Rmhermen (talk) 02:36, 27 February 2011 (UTC)
 * I believe so, it is known as mono caí in Spanish speaking countries. Jack (talk) 09:35, 27 February 2011 (UTC)

Numbers in a group
"Like other capuchins, it is a social animal, forming groups of 8 to 15 individuals that are led by an alpha or dominant male." or "The tufted capuchin lives in groups of two to twenty or more animals" Which is correct? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.141.137.151 (talk) 17:01, 1 July 2011 (UTC)

Thoughts for expanding Behavior section
The tufted capuchin article was last edited in 2011, so the efforts have been cold since last August. This piece has fine writing so far, but is lacking many important features. Presently, the expansive “Tool use and manufacture” section is informative, but the remaining aspects of behavior are barely discussed. The article mentions tufted capuchins as social animals (with some debate as to typical group size – mentioned above), but there is a profound lack of reputable information on the specie’s social structures, reproduction, and methods of communication. A reproduction section could be started from the article’s mentioning the role of rubbing urine on hands as a method of attracting mates. The current writing indicates that the species forms mixed groups with a single alpha male, but other males may be in the group as well. This and the rest of the behavior section are sparse in citations, and more scholarly information should be included. Food scarcity and the dominant male’s privilege of eating first are discussed but the role of altruism here is left out. Also, there is no mention of other forms of altruism, such as that between relatives (i.e – alarm calls). The article mentions that sexual maturity occurs by age 7 in tufted capuchin, but citations are lacking and a reason for this being “late for a primate its size” is not given. Finally, behavior section mentions that tufted capuchins have “important natural enemies… large birds of prey.” Aside from self-defensive behavior, an edit may include spiteful actions tufted capuchins make towards these other animals. Nsavalia23 4:14, 21 September 2012 (UTC)

As pets
Hey, there. Just dropping in and I can't help but notice that there's no section, or even a fleeting mention, about these animals as pets. Within the exotic pet community, they have a significant amount of relevancy and popularity. Though they're not your average household pet, I do think this warrants a mention. If someone can find the appropriate sources and get started, I'd be happy to help in any way I can. I'd add it myself, but, alas, Wikipedia is the only site I can access on my restricted network, so I can't research. Ciao, JadeGuardian (talk) 19:48, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

Wikipedia Ambassador Program course assignment
This article is the subject of an educational assignment at Washington University supported by the Wikipedia Ambassador Program&#32;during the 2012 Fall term. Further details are available on the course page.

The above message was substituted from by PrimeBOT (talk) on 15:57, 2 January 2023 (UTC)