This is how you should be cracking nuts! Monkeys show how to perfectly open a shell

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This is how you should be cracking nuts! Monkeys show how to perfectly open a shell

Posted by sciencetech-blog on Thursday, April 30, 2015 Label:

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There is no nut too tough for the wild bearded capuchin monkey.

Scientists have discovered that these primates are more skillful in cracking open their favourite treats than first believed.

The monkeys are known to use stone 'hammers' to crack nuts, and a new study has revealed how they expertly adjust their force with each strike.

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There is no nut too tough for the capuchin monkey. Scientists have discovered that these primates are more skillful in cracking open their favourite treats than first believed

'Until now, this level of dexterity was not suspected of any monkey,' said Madhur Mangalam of the University of Georgia.

The researchers filmed 14 capuchin monkeys cracking nuts in Brazil and analysed the footage to find out the height and speed of each strike.

Cracking nuts can be tricky because they have a softer outer husk and a much harder shell inside.

This means they have to approach the nut as a two-stage problem.

Capuchin monkeys show how to perfectly open a shell!

The monkeys are known to use stone 'hammers' to crack nuts, and a new study has revealed how they expertly adjust their force with each strike

They first hit it with a certain degree of force to breach the outer, green husk. Once this has been done, they can hit the inner shell much harder.

'It was a 'eureka' moment when we realised that the monkeys modulated the strikes systematically according to the condition of the nut following the preceding strike,' Mangalam says.

They had expected the monkeys to maintain the force of their strikes within a certain range, or possibly to increase it until the nuts cracked.

MONKEYS SUFFER FROM DEPRESSION TOO, SAYS STUDY

An estimated one in five people will suffer with depression in their lifetime.

But scientists at Chongqing Medical University, Chin have now found that Macaque monkeys show similar signs of depression to humans, such as shying away from a group, losing their appetite and adopting a hunched posture.

The cause of depression in some cases, appears to be down to bullying behaviour by dominant members of the colonies, such as intimidating and even attacking lower status monkeys.

The researchers found that the naturally depressed and isolated monkeys behaved in a similar way, such as 'stereotypical prostrated and socially unresponsive posture as well as exacerbation of socially submissive behaviours,' the study said.

Naturally depressed monkeys displayed a slumped posture, less interest in feeding and sex and diminished communication and reciprocal grooming with others.

By studying creatures in a social situation, they hope to learn more about why humans may become depressed, which could improve treatment for the debilitating mental disorder.

It never crossed their minds that the monkeys might show such a sophisticated ability to match their action to the physical state of the nut. But that's exactly what they did.

'Our finding opens our eyes to the fact that non-human primates modulate their actions with a tool to accommodate the rapidly changing requirements of the task, which is a cognitive accomplishment,' Mangalam says.

The researchers now plan to examine whether other species make adjustments in tool use in this way.

They will also explore how this kind of dexterity influences each species' tool-use repertoire.

Scientists had expected the monkeys to maintain the force of their strikes within a certain range, or possibly to increase it until the nuts cracked

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