Stoned males: the extreme courtship of some Brazilian monkeys (VIDEO)

    Stoned males: the extreme courtship of some Brazilian monkeys (VIDEO)

    Monkeys are known for their intelligence and their ability to use tools. Like stones, which they masterfully handle to crush coconuts, dig the soil and make holes. This has fascinated scientists, who are now focusing on the ability of a Brazilian species to accurately aim and throw boulders.



    He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him



    They scream, make faces, chase each other. They look like scenes worthy of a lively schoolyard, but for females of the species Sapajus libidinosus of the capuchin monkeys this is serious: it is their only chance to secure a partner.

    The behavior was filmed for a BBC / Discovery Channel co-production about Brazilian wildlife. The "location" is the Serra da Capivara National Park. Camila Galheigo Coelho, of the University of Durham, UK, and the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, has spent the past two years studying the social interactions of these monkeys for her Ph.D. and helped reveal the secrets of their sex life to filmmakers.

    Monkeys are known for their intelligence and their ability to use tools. Like stones, which they masterfully handle to crush coconuts, dig the soil and make holes. This has fascinated the scientists, who are now focusing on the Capuchin's ability to aim and throw boulders accurately.

    Already the Coelho colleagues Tiago Falotico and Eduardo B. Ottoni had recently published their description of the “stone throwing” of Sapajus libidinosus females. It is contained in a study published in the PLoS One online magazine.

    Why do they do it? Unlike other monkeys, these females have no physical indicators to show when they are most fertile or "available". Without brightly colored furs, swollen genitals, strong odors or liquids to communicate, these females they make males understand that they are ready to mate with their behavior.

    They solicit attention from males with pouting, moaning, and poking faces. And finally, they throw stones directly at the object of their desire, the chosen male. More than a sign of aggression, stone throwing is a compliment. "If in the other primates the male waits for the swelling to reach its peak in terms of size or redness, the capuchin males await the escalation of the female's behavior to ensure mating in the most fertile phase", has explained the Coelho. In short, if they throw stones at you and you are a male of Sapajus libidinosus, you are not ugly, but rather "palatable".



    Roberta Ragni

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