NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS CURRICULUM SUPPORT
Biology
Unit 3: Sustainability and
Interdependence
Case Study on Primate Behaviour
Student’s Guide
[HIGHER]
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the arrangements for National Qualifications. Users of
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Acknowledgement
Learning and Teaching Scotland gratefully acknowledges this contribution to the National
Qualifications support programme for Biology.
The publisher gratefully acknowledges permission to use the following source: two
photographs of Capuchin monkeys, courtesy of Dr M Bowler.
Every effort has been made to trace all the copyright holders but if any have been inadvertently
overlooked, the publishers will be pleased to make the necessary arrangements at the first
opportunity.
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2011
This resource may be reproduced in whole or in part for educational purposes by educational
establishments in Scotland provided that no profit accrues at any stage.
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CASE STUDY ON PRIMATE BEHAVIOUR (H, BIOLOGY)
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Contents
Student practical – Observing primate behaviour
4
Student exercise 1
8
Student exercise 2
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CASE STUDY ON PRIMATE BEHAVIOUR
Student practical – Observing primate behaviour
Video clip A
Why do we study primates?
Video clip B
15-minute animal behaviour sampling video
Introduction
In this practical you will observe the behaviour of a group of capuchin
monkeys, including an individual capuchin monkey, named Popeye, over a
maximum period of 15 minutes. The video footage was obtained at the Living
Links Research Centre at Edinburgh Zoo. First, you will use some basic
observational techniques and, second, describe the observed behaviour in an
organised way.
It is important to realise that this is an introduction to primate observation.
As you are only observing a number of individuals over a very short time
period on one day, your results cannot be used to generate hypotheses about
these monkeys’ overall behaviour. Reliable, precise and quantitative data
collection for animal behaviour studies takes much longer than 15 minutes.
To begin, view video clip A.
Part 1 – Read the following instructions
Watch the first 5 minutes of the footage from video clip B. Record as much
information as possible about the behaviour of the monkeys you see on a
piece of paper. This type of recording is informal and often used w hen taking
field notes. It is known as ad libitum (ad lib) sampling.
Take note as to whether the monkeys were in the trees or on the ground . What
type of day was it when the recording was taken? Were the monkeys moving,
grooming, sitting, playing or eating? Were they alone or in a group? Standing
on two feet or moving on all fours? Were there any mothers carrying babies?
Take notice of any particular interactions between individuals. Are you aware
of older more dominant monkeys within the group? Was there any chasing,
fighting, scratching, grooming or biting? Notice the presence of another type
of monkey called the squirrel monkey. Squirrel monkeys are smaller, with a
yellow tinge to the coat. Are the squirrel monkeys playing with the
capuchins?
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CASE STUDY ON PRIMATE BEHAVIOUR (H, BIOLOGY)
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CASE STUDY ON PRIMATE BEHAVIOUR
At the end of the 5 minutes discuss with your classmates the types and
locations of the behavioural observations you have made. Discuss, as a group,
the difficulties you may have had in recording what was happening.
Part 2
1.
Focal sampling
Focal sampling is a technique in which the observer records the different
behaviour of an individual over a set time period. You will record Popeye’s
(large male, born in 2001) behaviour (moving, grooming, sitting still, eating)
and location (in the tree, on the ground) over a fixed time period. Construct a
table to record your final observations, giving it suitable headings and units.
You will need to calculate total time spent on activity once the observation
time has finished. For example:
Observer: J. Smith
Location: Living Links Research Centre, Edinburgh Zoo
Weather conditions: Dry, overcast, windy
Sampling method: Focal sampling
Time on clock
(minutes)
Popeye’s behaviour
Total time spent on
activity
5.00
Jumping on rope
15 seconds
5.15
Walking
17 seconds
5.32
Sitting
10 seconds
5.42
Playing
.....
6.01
…………………………....
.....
6.12
…………………………....
.....
CASE STUDY ON PRIMATE BEHAVIOUR (H, BIOLOGY)
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2.
Scan sampling
This is a technique in which the observer focuses on the behaviour of a group
at set time intervals. The observer records what the members of the group are
doing at that time.
Your teacher will pause the video at set time intervals or a classmate will
indicate when to take recordings. Record the behaviour of all the capuchin
monkeys visible at that time interval in a table. For example:
Observer : J. Smith
Location: Living Links Research Centre, Edinburgh Zoo
Weather conditions: Dry, overcast, windy
Sampling method: Scan sampling
Time
(minutes)
Number of animals and behaviour
6.00
3 jumping, 1 grooming, 2 sitting, 1 lying
6.30
7 sitting
7.00
3 moving, 2 grooming, 2 sitting
7.30
1 eating, 3 moving, 3 sitting
Part 3
Once you have recorded your results, discuss the advantages and
disadvantages that each sampling method has in terms of coming to
conclusions about the capuchin monkeys’ behaviour.
Peer assessment
Swop the data tables you have created with other students in your class. Take
note of observations that you have in common with other students and those
that are different.
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CASE STUDY ON PRIMATE BEHAVIOUR
Useful websites
BBC wildlife finder (case
sensitive)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Primate
Excellent images and behaviour
traits
Search under ‘Find Wildlife’ –
enter capuchin
ARKIVE (search ‘All’ –
capuchin)
http://www.arkive.org/
Huge selection of video and
images of capuchins as well as
other primates
Website of the Living Links
Research Centre at Edinburgh
Zoo
http://www.living-links.org/
CASE STUDY ON PRIMATE BEHAVIOUR (H, BIOLOGY)
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CASE STUDY ON PRIMATE BEHAVIOUR
Student exercise 1
How capuchin monkeys cope with conflict at feeding time
Tufted capuchin monkeys Cebus apella are found in Central and South
America. They live in rainforests, spending most of their time in the canopy
but occasionally come to the ground. Adults have a mass of 1.3–4.8 kg, with
males weighing more than females. They are omnivores, eating fruits, seeds,
nuts, insects, birds’ eggs, etc. Capuchins live in groups of 10–30, although in
zoos group size is usually smaller.
Figure 1 Tufted capuchin monkeys grooming (left) and feeding (right) .
(Photographs courtesy of Dr M. Bowler)
In zoos and research stations, the monkeys usually receive their food at a
similar time each day and the appearance of the food is often accompanied by
aggressive behaviour. These behaviours may include threats, such as baring
their teeth, chases, bites and grabs.
It would therefore clearly be advantageous to individual monkeys in a group
if they could behave in a way that would reduce conflict and aggressive
behaviour, perhaps by grooming another monkey.
In a recent study* at a research station, scientists measured rates of grooming
and rates of aggression in a group of 12 capuchins under three conditions:
just before food was presented, when the food was presented and during a
control condition. Each period of observation under the three conditions
lasted for 30 minutes and occurred at these times:
1500–1530 hours for pre-feeding bouts
1530–1600 hours when food was presented
1430–1600 hours at weekends (food was presented from 0930–1100 at
weekends).
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Would the monkeys use grooming during the pre -feeding period to reduce the
stress levels within the group when food appeared? It seems they do.
*Di Sorrentino, E. P., Schino, G., Visalberghi, E. and Aureli, F. (2010) What
time is it? Coping with expected feeding time in capuchin monkeys. Animal
Behaviour, 80, 117 – 123.
Questions
1.
The capuchin monkeys that were studied were housed in an indoor –
outdoor enclosure at a research centre in Rome. Give one advantage and
one disadvantage of studying animals in an enclosure rather than in the
wild.
(2)
2.
The scientists observed the monkeys for 30 minutes under three
conditions: pre-feeding, feeding and control.
(a)
(b)
3.
Why were the study periods of the same length?
(1)
Identify another aspect of this research study that allows reliable
conclusions to be drawn.
(1)
The presence of a control allows valid conclusions to be drawn. In
studies like this, what does the term ‘control’ mean?
(1)
Figure 2 Rate of aggression events (events/hour) under three conditions.
CASE STUDY ON PRIMATE BEHAVIOUR (H, BIOLOGY)
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CASE STUDY ON PRIMATE BEHAVIOUR
4.
The scientists measured the rate of aggressive acts or events (number of
aggression events/hour) between members of the group under the three
conditions. Their data are shown in Figure 2.
(a)
(b)
How many more aggressive events/hour were seen during feeding
than during the pre-feeding stage?
(1)
Suggest one reason why the number of aggressive events/hour
increased during the feeding periods.
(1)
5.
The scientists wanted to see if grooming rates would be higher during
the pre-feeding period than during the control condition. Suggest a
suitable hypothesis that the scientists could test to see if this was so. (1)
6.
Figure 3 shows the mean hourly rate of grooming (events/hour) during
the pre-feeding and control conditions.
Figure 3 Mean hourly rate of grooming (events/hour) during the pre -feeding
and control conditions.
(a)
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Approximately how many more grooming events/hour were
observed during the pre-feeding condition than the control
condition?
CASE STUDY ON PRIMATE BEHAVIOUR (H, BIOLOGY)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2011
(1)
CASE STUDY ON PRIMATE BEHAVIOUR
(b)
7.
8.
9.
10.
Suggest one reason why grooming is usually higher during the
pre-feeding condition than during the control condition.
(1)
The scientists measured the number of aggressive events shown by
individuals. What is an event?
(2)
Give one limitation or weakness that could lead to errors in the
recording of aggressive acts as events.
(2)
Suggest one reason why a capuchin monkey would groom another
capuchin.
(2)
As a result of the research described here, suggest one way that the
scientists might advise zoos in order to reduce aggression when feeding
capuchin monkeys. Share your suggestion with your class group.(2)
Total marks = 18
Extension exercise
You have been asked to communicate the findings of this paper at a
conference for zoo keepers. In a group or individually, produce a presentation
that summarises the scientists’ findings. Your communication could be in the
form of a poster, speech or PowerPoint presentation, and should include a
hypothesis and experimental data.
(This exercise was produced by the Association for the Study of Animal
Behaviour (ASAB). We are grateful to Elsevier for permission to use material
from the article by Di Sorrentino et al. in Animal Behaviour, 2010, 80, 117–
123.)
http://asab.nottingham.ac.uk/
CASE STUDY ON PRIMATE BEHAVIOUR (H, BIOLOGY)
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Student exercise 2
Alarm calls of capuchin monkeys
Part 1
View video clip C: Capuchins calling. How do capuchin monkeys react to
predators? (1 minute 12 seconds).
Part 2
Read the following article and answer the qu estions that follow.
White-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capuchinus) live in tropical forests in
Central and South America, see Figure 1. They are medium -sized monkeys
(with a mass of 2.5–3.5 kg) and live in groups. They spend most of their time
in the trees (termed arboreal) but do come down to the ground occasionally to
drink and look for food. Their diet is varied and they eat both plant and
animal food.
They are preyed upon by a number of animals as they move around the forest,
so they keep watch for predators. The predators might be humans, birds (like
eagles, falcons and owls), large cats (like jaguars), snakes (like boa
constrictors) and caimans (which are like alligators). If a capuchin sees a
predator it gives an alarm call to warn others in the group. Capuchins give a
different alarm call for each predator. Scientists recorded these alarm calls to
see if the different calls had some features in common and published their
results in a scientific journal.*
*Fichtel, C., Perry, S. and Gros-Louis, J. (2005) Alarm calls of white-faced
capuchin monkeys: an acoustic analysis. Animal Behaviour, 70, 165–176.
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Questions
1.
2.
White-faced capuchins live in tropical forests and eat fruit, insects,
eggs, etc. Are capuchins herbivores, carnivores or omnivores?
(1)
Capuchin monkeys have a number of predators, which are aerial,
arboreal or terrestrial. Where does an aerial predator hunt from?
Underline the correct answer.
(1)
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(iv)
3.
Trees
Ground
Air
Underground
Water
Humans are one of their predators. Underline which type of predator
they are.
(1)
(i)
Aerial
(ii) Arboreal
(iii) Terrestrial
4.
Give one reason why humans would hunt capuchin monkeys.
5.
The scientists recorded the alarm calls of capuchin monkeys on portable
recorders. Give one advantage of using portable recorders in the
wild.
(1)
6.
The scientists recorded alarm calls from capuchin monkeys who were
over 3 years old. Give one reason why they only recorded calls from
monkeys over 3 years old.
(1)
7.
When a capuchin monkey sees a snake on the ground it gives the
‘snake’ alarm call and then jumps up into a tree. Give one reason why it
behaves like this.
(1)
8.
Table 1 shows the percentage of encounters with predators when
capuchin monkeys gave alarm calls: the predators were birds (falcons
and owls), humans, snakes and caimans. The two columns show
whether just one monkey gave the alarm call or more than one monkey
gave the call.
CASE STUDY ON PRIMATE BEHAVIOUR (H, BIOLOGY)
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(1)
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CASE STUDY ON PRIMATE BEHAVIOUR
Table 1 The percentage of encounters when white -faced capuchin monkeys
gave alarm calls after seeing four types of predators.
Predator type
No. of encounters
Encounters when
only 1 monkey
called (%)
Encounters when
> 1 monkey
called (%)
Birds
153
61
39
Humans
12
67
33
Snakes
65
15
85
Caimans
8
0
100
(i)
How many encounters with these four predators did the scientists
record?
(1)
(ii) Which predator did the monkeys encounter most frequently?
(1)
(iii) For the encounters with humans, how much greater was the
percentage of encounters when one monkey called than when
more than one monkey called?
(1)
9.
Give two reasons why capuchin monkeys give sound signals (alarm
calls) rather than visual signals to warn of predators in forest habitats. (2)
10.
Suggest one reason why you think it was always groups of monkeys
that gave alarm calls when they encountered caimans.
(1)
Total marks = 13
(This exercise was produced by the Association for the Study of Animal
Behaviour (ASAB). We are grateful to Elsevier for permission to use material
from the article by Fichtel et al. in Animal Behaviour, 2005, 70, 165–176.)
http://asab.nottingham.ac.uk/
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CASE STUDY ON PRIMATE BEHAVIOUR (H, BIOLOGY)
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