Tufted Capuchin: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Monkeys of the Americas · day 4 of 7

Five facts

1. A bundle of stiff hairs on its forehead can be raised like a little wig, which gives this monkey its tufted name.
2. Nut-cracking takes patience. It peels a palm nut with its teeth, leaves it to dry for about a week, then smashes it with a stone.
3. Its hammer stones are often so heavy it needs both hands to lift them, and its favourite anvil rocks end up dotted with dents.
4. Young capuchins learn from the experts: when nuts are being cracked, they tend to watch the best tool users.
5. Big birds of prey are its main enemies. Capuchins fear them so much that even a harmless bird flying over can set off alarm.

The quiz

1. What can the tufted capuchin raise on its forehead?

• A bony crest
• A flap of skin
• A tuft of stiff hair like a wig (correct)
• Two small horns

Stiff hairs on its forehead stand up like a small wig.

2. What does a capuchin do with a palm nut before cracking it?

• Peels it and lets it dry for about a week (correct)
• Soaks it in a stream
• Buries it for a year
• Gives it to the leader

It strips off the husk with its teeth, then lets the nut dry out for roughly a week.

3. What often happens to a capuchin's favourite anvil rock?

• It turns black
• It rolls into the river
• It gets covered in moss
• It gets dotted with hollows (correct)

Repeated pounding leaves the anvil rock pockmarked with hollows.

4. Whom do young capuchins tend to watch when nuts are being cracked?

• The youngest monkeys
• The best tool users (correct)
• Only their mother
• Nobody, they learn alone

Researchers found the young watch the most skilled nut-crackers.

5. Which animals are the tufted capuchin's main natural enemies?

• Crocodiles
• Large birds of prey (correct)
• Wild pigs
• Bats

Large birds of prey are its important natural enemies.

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