ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of capuchin monkeys (genera Cebus and Sapajus). Capuchin monkeys (2–5 kg) are gregarious, active monkeys most notable for their large brains, technical skills, traditions, and strong interest in exploring and manipulating their surroundings. In nature, they forage destructively by breaking, pounding, and biting resistant and encased foods. They eat animal prey in addition to plant foods, employing considerable manual dexterity while doing so. Capuchin monkeys use their tails as anchors in locomotion and to reach into space, and they can leap several meters. They will spend time on the ground, particularly to search for food, but spend more time above ground, and seek safety by moving up. They live in mixed-sex social groups, often with more than one adult male. Dominance relations are somewhat relaxed compared to Old World monkeys, and adults are uniformly tolerant to infants and young juveniles. Females initiate courtship; they display no overt physical signs of fertility. Housing capuchin monkeys in groups is feasible in captivity, provided the monkeys have sufficient space, visual barriers, and locomotor opportunities to control their proximity to one another, and social dynamics are monitored carefully.
