Sapajus Apella

Sapajus apella is a scientific name of tufted capuchin and is characterized by its distinct head coloration. Capuchins are New World monkeys that have “long legs and a prehensile tail which helps them to climb and swing through trees” (Richman). Capuchin became known to the public after Dexter, a small capuchin monkey, appeared in the movie Night at the Museum. People merely refer to this animal as capuchin or monkey, but capuchin has a very complex taxonomy and still undergoes constant changes. Tufted capuchin only belonged under the genus Cebus regardless of its environment and behavior. However, in 2012, “the genus Cebus was split in two, taking into consideration morphological and behavioural features, while reserving the genus ‘Cebus’
This is closely related to its omnivorous diet. Fruit comprises 80 percent of their diet, and rest consists of leaves, insects, nectar, and nuts that they found on the forest floor (Richman). The dental formula of the sapajus apella is 2.1.3.3. Sapajus apella has more robust molar compared to Cebus apella. The difference between two species reflect “the type of food fund in their biogeographic ranges” (Delgado 722). The hyper-robust teeth also shows that the sapajus apella has adapted to eat solid food such as nuts. Both sapajus apella and cebus apella had hard molar at first, but as they spread into different location each species became different by adaptation. The use of their prehensile tail is very limited while traveling, and they are folded into its body when they are walking. Their tails assist them “to control risky movements, to change direction and to stabilize the capuchin while feeding” (Fleagle). Sapajus apella is quadrupedal, but they can walk on two legs as
As they get older, they get higher rank among their groups. Higher-ranking capuchins are respected and they get better chance of attaining resources. Learning ability of sapajus apella is outstanding as they can understand the value of arbitrary objects such as tokens. Also, it is notable that this ability is directly correlates with the social context. There has been a research done in captive-born capuchins to test their social behaviors. Researchers taught capuchins how to exchange token for food. Most capuchins understood the value of a token, but what is surprising is that this exchange behavior varied accordingly with the social rank. It has turned out that “the social context positively affected high-ranking individuals and negatively affected low-ranking ones” (Addessi 83). High-ranking capuchins learned quickly how to exchange token and knew the different values between each tokens, while low-ranking capuchins never acquired and understood.
Another unique characteristic of capuchin monkeys is that they build affiliation when humans display imitation behavior. According to Paukner’s experiment, capuchin monkeys “look longer at imitators, spend more time proximity to imitators, and prefer to interact with imitators in a token exchange task” (Paukner). Sapajus apella also displays aggressive behavior when there are conflicts between groups. After the conflict, usually within 2 minutes, capuchin