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How Capuchin Monkeys Use Their Semi-Prehensile Tails


Affiliations
1 Department of Physical Therapy, Movement and Rehabilitation Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, United States
2 Department of Organismal and Evolutionary Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, United States
3 Department of Psychology, University of São Paulo, São Paulo 05508-020, Brazil
4 Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council, 44-00185 Rome, Italy
5 Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, United States
 

Among primates, prehensile/semi-prehensile tails have evolved independently in the families Atelidae and Cebidae of the infraorder Platyrrhini (Neotropical monkeys). They facilitate maintaining stability during locomotion on thin, flexible branches and while reaching for food on challenging substrates. How a prehensile/semi-prehensile tail is coordinated with the hind limbs to facilitate controlled, flexible adoption of postures remains unknown. In an experimental set-up in the wild, we induced capuchin monkeys to adopt a tail-assisted, head-down tripodal posture to reach for food, documenting from slow-motion video recordings (120 fps) both qualitative changes in the monkeys’ positional behaviour – the relative orientation of their limbs and semi-prehensile tail – and quantitative changes in the left knee angle. The monkeys coordinated their tail and hind limbs in an online manner by preparing to anchor the tail over a substrate when beginning to adopt a tail-assisted, head-down, tripodal posture, but anchoring it only at the moment when they extended their hand to grasp the food. Coordination of their semi-prehensile tail with their limbs enables these capuchin monkeys to adjust their posture more flexibly compared to anchoring their tail over a substrate in anticipation and subsequently changing posture.

Keywords

Left Knee Angle, Locomotion, Prehensility, Sapajus libidinosus, Tail Cantilever Length, Tropodal Posture.
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  • How Capuchin Monkeys Use Their Semi-Prehensile Tails

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Authors

Madhur Mangalam
Department of Physical Therapy, Movement and Rehabilitation Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, United States
Callum F. Ross
Department of Organismal and Evolutionary Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, United States
Patrícia Izar
Department of Psychology, University of São Paulo, São Paulo 05508-020, Brazil
Elisabetta Visalberghi
Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council, 44-00185 Rome, Italy
Dorothy M. Fragaszy
Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, United States

Abstract


Among primates, prehensile/semi-prehensile tails have evolved independently in the families Atelidae and Cebidae of the infraorder Platyrrhini (Neotropical monkeys). They facilitate maintaining stability during locomotion on thin, flexible branches and while reaching for food on challenging substrates. How a prehensile/semi-prehensile tail is coordinated with the hind limbs to facilitate controlled, flexible adoption of postures remains unknown. In an experimental set-up in the wild, we induced capuchin monkeys to adopt a tail-assisted, head-down tripodal posture to reach for food, documenting from slow-motion video recordings (120 fps) both qualitative changes in the monkeys’ positional behaviour – the relative orientation of their limbs and semi-prehensile tail – and quantitative changes in the left knee angle. The monkeys coordinated their tail and hind limbs in an online manner by preparing to anchor the tail over a substrate when beginning to adopt a tail-assisted, head-down, tripodal posture, but anchoring it only at the moment when they extended their hand to grasp the food. Coordination of their semi-prehensile tail with their limbs enables these capuchin monkeys to adjust their posture more flexibly compared to anchoring their tail over a substrate in anticipation and subsequently changing posture.

Keywords


Left Knee Angle, Locomotion, Prehensility, Sapajus libidinosus, Tail Cantilever Length, Tropodal Posture.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv122%2Fi2%2F195-200