Capuchin Monkey has hands & fingers like a person)
The capuchin. Like quite a few of the primates, it displays problem solving, tool building, and tool using intelligence. German shepherds are able to solve very simple problems, and can be trained to perform specific tasks, but they aren’t capable of solving complex problems on their own.
Capuchins, at least in a limited capacity, are capable of doing so.
For example, when untrained capuchin monkeys are placed in an environment where there is food in a location they cannot reach, they will almost always check their environment for things such as sticks they can use to pry the food out. They will even figure out how to retrieve the food if the solution requires them to manipulate more than one stick at the same time. However, they tend to make the same errors repeatedly when presented with the problem anew, even though they have solved the problem before.
On the other hand, wild capuchins are known to both dry nuts that aren’t good to eat when still green, and use "anvil stones" in order to crack open nuts they cannot open by hand. They are also known to leave their natural habitat for brief periods in order to hunt other sources of food, such as crabs or clams, and they do learn to consistently open the shells of those as well.
The clams, in particular, must be opened using a very specific technique of repeatedly knocking the shell of the clam on a certain spot and then rolling it in order to make the clam relax its valve muscles enough for them to try it open. If it isn’t don’t just right, the clam won’t cooperate, and the capuchin won’t be able to eat.
It takes quite some time for the monkeys to master the task, but they eventually learn through observation and experimentation how to do it consistently.
Additionally, during times of year when mosquitoes and other pests are prevalent, they will hunt down millipedes, aggravate them, and then rub them across their pelts in order to coat themselves with the millipede’s natural insect repellants.
All of that suggests that while they are slow learners compared to humans, they are not only capable of initial problem-solving, but are also capable of eventually teaching themselves new skills.
May 7th, 2010 at 3:03 pm
The capuchin. Like quite a few of the primates, it displays problem solving, tool building, and tool using intelligence. German shepherds are able to solve very simple problems, and can be trained to perform specific tasks, but they aren’t capable of solving complex problems on their own.
Capuchins, at least in a limited capacity, are capable of doing so.
For example, when untrained capuchin monkeys are placed in an environment where there is food in a location they cannot reach, they will almost always check their environment for things such as sticks they can use to pry the food out. They will even figure out how to retrieve the food if the solution requires them to manipulate more than one stick at the same time. However, they tend to make the same errors repeatedly when presented with the problem anew, even though they have solved the problem before.
On the other hand, wild capuchins are known to both dry nuts that aren’t good to eat when still green, and use "anvil stones" in order to crack open nuts they cannot open by hand. They are also known to leave their natural habitat for brief periods in order to hunt other sources of food, such as crabs or clams, and they do learn to consistently open the shells of those as well.
The clams, in particular, must be opened using a very specific technique of repeatedly knocking the shell of the clam on a certain spot and then rolling it in order to make the clam relax its valve muscles enough for them to try it open. If it isn’t don’t just right, the clam won’t cooperate, and the capuchin won’t be able to eat.
It takes quite some time for the monkeys to master the task, but they eventually learn through observation and experimentation how to do it consistently.
Additionally, during times of year when mosquitoes and other pests are prevalent, they will hunt down millipedes, aggravate them, and then rub them across their pelts in order to coat themselves with the millipede’s natural insect repellants.
All of that suggests that while they are slow learners compared to humans, they are not only capable of initial problem-solving, but are also capable of eventually teaching themselves new skills.
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