Desenvolvimento comportamental manipulativo e ocorrência de olhar mútuo entre macacos-prego (Cebus cf. apella) em cativeiro

Abstract

During the first two months of life the offspring of Cebus depend almost exclusively on their mother. Only after the third month the newborn starts to move around independently, and at that time major changes in their behaviors pattern occur, along with an increase in the manipulative repertoire. The objectives of this study are to monitor the development of manipulative behavior in three Cebus cf. apella newborns, and check the possible occurrence of mutual gaze between monkeys. In Experiment 1, using the focal animal sampling, it was observed the baseline frequency of the behavioral categories of manipulative behavior of three Cebus cf. apella newborns. Following, four types of objects were inserted in the cage, one every week. Experiment 2 was a simple discrimination test between pictures of faces with direct versus desviated gaze. Experiment 3 was a simple discrimination training, between two stimulus pairs: front faces with direct versus deviated gaze, and front face versus profile face. The results show that newborns of the same age group spent about the same time manipulating objects. It was not possible to observe a clear pattern of preference for direct or deviated gaze in Experiment 2. Subjects were able to discriminate gaze direction (Experiment 3).