Torralvo Kelly, Rabelo Rafael M, Andrade Alfredo, Botero-Arias Robinson
Programa de Pós-Graduação Em Ecologia, National Institute of Amazonian Research, Manaus, AM, Brazil.
Mamirauá Institute for Sustainable Development, Tefé, AM, Brazil.
Primates. 2017 Apr;58(2):279-283. doi: 10.1007/s10329-017-0603-1. Epub 2017 Mar 9.
Descriptions of new tool-use events are important for understanding how ecological context may drive the evolution of tool use among primate traditions. Here, we report a possible case of the first record of tool use by wild Amazonian capuchin monkeys (Sapajus macrocephalus). The record was made by a camera trap, while we were monitoring caiman nest predation at Mamirauá Reserve in Central Amazonia. An adult individual was registered in a bipedal posture, apparently using a branch as a shovel to dig eggs out of a nest. Caiman eggs are frequently depredated by opportunistic animals, such as the capuchin monkeys. As the Mamirauá Reserve is covered by a high-productivity forest, and caiman eggs are a high-quality food resource seasonally available on the ground, we believe that tool use by capuchins is more likely to be opportunity driven, rather than necessity driven, in our study site.
描述新的工具使用事件对于理解生态环境如何推动灵长类动物传统中工具使用的进化很重要。在此，我们报告一个可能是野生亚马逊卷尾猴（Sapajus macrocephalus）首次使用工具记录的案例。该记录由一台相机陷阱完成，当时我们正在亚马逊中部马米拉瓦保护区监测凯门鳄巢穴的捕食情况。一只成年个体以双足姿势被记录下来，显然是在用一根树枝当作铲子从巢穴中挖出蛋。凯门鳄蛋经常被机会主义动物捕食，比如卷尾猴。由于马米拉瓦保护区被高产森林覆盖，且凯门鳄蛋是季节性出现在地面上的优质食物资源，我们认为在我们的研究地点，卷尾猴使用工具更有可能是由机会驱动，而非需求驱动。
