#caquetatitimonkeyplecturocebuscaquetensis — Public Fediverse posts

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Palm Oil Detectives @[email protected] · 2021-04-20 · 16:13 UTC
Monkey minds: what we can learn from primate personality
Carla Litchfield, University of South Australia
Every human is different. Some are outgoing, while others are reserved and shy. Some are focused and diligent, while others are haphazard and unfussed. Some people are curious, others avoid novelty and enjoy their rut.
This is reflected in our personality, which is typically measured across five factors, known as the “Big Five”. These are:

Fascinating #research by @UniversitySA #primates, just like us have unique personalities. Some are chilled, while others are chaotic, some are curious while others are conservative. Some are the life of the jungle party, others shy!
Tweet
- Openness – intellectual curiosity and preference for novelty
- Conscientiousness – the degree of organisation and self-discipline
- Extraversion – sociability, emotional expression and tendency to seek others’ company
- Agreeableness – degree of trust or suspicious of others and tendencies towards helpfulness and altruism, and
- Neuroticism – emotional stability or volatility.
But did you know that our primate cousins – other apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, gorillas and gibbons) and monkeys – also exhibit a similar personality profile? Some are bold, others shy. Some are friendly, other aggressive. Some are curious, while others are conservative.
But they also differ from us in some interesting ways. And it’s in teasing out these differences that we can learn a surprising amount about the way they live, and how they have evolved.
Purple-faced Langur Semnopithecus vetulus
Social influence
Comparative psychologists have long adapted personality tests to measure the personality of other species, including pets, big cats, and our “hairy” primate relatives.
Since nonhuman animals cannot fill out a questionnaire, a human who knows them well – perhaps a caregiver, zookeeper, owner, researcher or park ranger – rates their personality for them.
Chimpanzees, it turns out, are remarkably similar to us in their personality make-up. They have been found to have the same five personality factors that we have. However, they also have a sixth Dominance factor. This includes features such as: independent, confident, fearless, intelligent, bullying and persistent.
Why do chimps have a Dominance factor and we don’t? It appears to be due to the kind of society that chimps live in. Understanding the dominance hierarchy of male chimpanzees – who is powerful and who is not – is a matter of survival and well-being for every chimpanzee in a community.
Other primates also show interesting variations in personality that correspond to their social dynamics.
Do I look conscientious or neurotic? Rod Waddington/Flickr, CC BY-SA
Macaque machinations
The 22 species of macaque monkeys are the only primates that are as widespread in their distribution as we are. Along with their disparate habitats, they also have a wide variation in the structure of the societies, which appears to have influenced the evolution of their personalities.
A team of researchers, led by Mark Adams and Alexander Weiss of Edinburgh University, investigated personality and social structure in six species of macaque and found some interesting variation.
There are four main categories of social style, ranging from Grade 1 “despotic” to Grade 4 “tolerant”, depending on how strict or relaxed their female dominance hierarchies are.
Grade 1 species showed strong nepotism or favouritism towards kin and high ranking monkeys. These species include rhesus macaques, a species commonly used in laboratories and sent into space before humans, and Japanese macaques, which include the famous snow monkeys who soak in hot springs.
Lion tailed macaque
At the other end of the spectrum, the Grade 4 species showed more tolerance in social interactions between unrelated females. This includes Tonkean macaques, which are found in Sulawesi and the nearby Togian Islands in Indonesia, and Crested macaques, which are critically endangered.
(A wild crested macaque received international attention when he stole a wildlife photographer’s camera and then photographed himself. This could be an example of a “bold” and “curious” personality.)
Red-cheeked Gibbon Nomascus gabriellae
In the middle of the social tolerance scale are the Grade 2 and 3 species. This includes Assamese macaques, which are sometimes found at high altitudes in Nepal and Tibet, and Barbary macaques, which include the infamous “apes” of Gibraltar (actually monkeys, not apes), who are often overweight and aggressive because tourists overfeed them.
Do I look aggressive to you? Michelle Bender/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND
Personality differences between macaque species
Interestingly, the individual species of macaques didn’t all have the same personality factors. The Japanese, Barbary, crested and Tonkean macaques had only four, while the Assamese had five, and rhesus monkeys had six factors.
All of the species exhibited the dimension of Friendliness. This seems to be a personality factor unique to macaques, and is a blend of chimpanzee Agreeableness and human Altruism.
Tonkean macaques also had a Sociability personality factor. Just like chimpanzees and humans, this species of macaque uses affiliative contacts (i.e. friendship) to reinforce bonds. Only crested macaques did not show the personality factor of Openness (i.e. curiosity), usually found in humans and other primates. The factors Dominance and Anxiety were found for rhesus and Japanese macaques.
The old and the new
The study also showed the fascinating connections between personality and social style. Grade 1 despotic species – Japanese and rhesus macaques – were rather similar, and so were Grades 2, 3 and 4, including the more tolerant species such as Assamese, Tonkean and crested macaques.
On the evolutionary scale, African primates, such as the African Barbary macaque, are “older”. Therefore, they represented the “ancestral” social behaviours for macaques.
Barbary macaque personality has a Dominance/Confidence factor, which is related to social assertiveness, an Opportunism factor, which relates to aggression and impulsivity, a Friendliness factor, relating to social affiliation, and an Openness factor, relating to curiosity and exploratory behaviour.
Rhesus and Japanese macaques, on the other hand, are “younger” on the evolutionary scale. Therefore, the Dominance and Anxiety factors seen in these species must have evolved later.
Psst. You’re disagreeable. jinterwas/Flickr, CC BY
Understanding the personality of an individual animal or species can help in animal management and welfare. Rhesus macaques, for example, display an Anxiety personality factor. These monkeys are also most commonly used in bio-medical laboratory research. Knowing that some individuals may be prone to anxiety means that researchers must make extra efforts to alleviate any potential distress.
The findings that some Barbary macaques may be especially socially assertive, aggressive, impulsive, curious and exploratory may also help us convince tourists to keep their distance from these monkeys in Gibraltar to avoid conflicts!
Such studies of animal personality also shed light on our own personality dimensions. Our lack of a Dominance factor suggests that our ancestral environment was perhaps more egalitarian and less characterised by high social stratification, which is also borne out by anthropological and palaeontological studies.
Ultimately, we can learn a lot from our primate cousins, not only about their personalities, but about personality itself – not to mention learning a thing or two about ourselves and the social environment in which we evolved.
Carla Litchfield, Lecturer, School of Psychology, Social Work and Social Policy, University of South Australia
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
#amazingAnimals #animalBehaviour #animalExtinction #animalIntelligence #animalRights #animalrights #animals #CaquetáTitíMonkeyPlecturocebusCaquetensis #Primate #primates #primatology #ProboscisMonkeyNasalisLarvatus #research #RolowayMonkeyCercopithecusRoloway
#amazinganimals #animalbehaviour #animalextinction #animalintelligence #animalrights #animals
Palm Oil Detectives @[email protected] · 2021-04-20 · 16:13 UTC
Monkey minds: what we can learn from primate personality
Did you know that our #primate cousins – other #apes (#chimpanzees, #bonobos, #orangutans, #gorillas and #gibbons) and monkeys – also exhibit a similar personality profile to humans? Some are bold, others shy. Some are friendly, other aggressive. Some are curious, while others are conservative and make more reserved decisions. Here’s some fascinating evolutionary research about why.

Fascinating #research finds #primates 🦍🐵🦧 have unique #personalities. Some are chilled, others are neurotic. Some are adventurous, while others are reserved. Help them survive be #Vegan and #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🩸🧐🙊⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/04/21/monkey-minds-what-we-can-learn-from-primate-personality/
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Every human is different. Some are outgoing, while others are reserved and shy. Some are focused and diligent, while others are haphazard and unfussed. Some people are curious, others avoid novelty and enjoy their rut.
This is reflected in our personality, which is typically measured across five factors, known as the “Big Five”. These are:
- Openness – intellectual curiosity and preference for novelty
- Conscientiousness – the degree of organisation and self-discipline
- Extraversion – sociability, emotional expression and tendency to seek others’ company
- Agreeableness – degree of trust or suspicious of others and tendencies towards helpfulness and altruism, and
- Neuroticism – emotional stability or volatility.
But primates also differ from us in some interesting ways. And it’s in teasing out these differences that we can learn a surprising amount about the way they live, and how they have evolved.
Purple-faced Langur Semnopithecus vetulus
Social influence
Comparative psychologists have long adapted personality tests to measure the personality of other species, including pets, big cats, and our “hairy” primate relatives.
Since nonhuman animals cannot fill out a questionnaire, a human who knows them well – perhaps a caregiver, zookeeper, owner, researcher or park ranger – rates their personality for them.
Chimpanzees, it turns out, are remarkably similar to us in their personality make-up. They have been found to have the same five personality factors that we have. However, they also have a sixth Dominance factor. This includes features such as: independent, confident, fearless, intelligent, bullying and persistent.
Why do chimps have a Dominance factor and we don’t? It appears to be due to the kind of society that chimps live in. Understanding the dominance hierarchy of male chimpanzees – who is powerful and who is not – is a matter of survival and well-being for every chimpanzee in a community.
Other primates also show interesting variations in personality that correspond to their social dynamics.
Do I look conscientious or neurotic? Rod Waddington/Flickr, CC BY-SA
Macaque machinations
The 22 species of macaque monkeys are the only primates that are as widespread in their distribution as we are. Along with their disparate habitats, they also have a wide variation in the structure of the societies, which appears to have influenced the evolution of their personalities.
A team of researchers, led by Mark Adams and Alexander Weiss of Edinburgh University, investigated personality and social structure in six species of macaque and found some interesting variation.
There are four main categories of social style, ranging from Grade 1 “despotic” to Grade 4 “tolerant”, depending on how strict or relaxed their female dominance hierarchies are.
Grade 1 species showed strong nepotism or favouritism towards kin and high ranking monkeys. These species include rhesus macaques, a species commonly used in laboratories and sent into space before humans, and Japanese macaques, which include the famous snow monkeys who soak in hot springs.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Grade 4 species showed more tolerance in social interactions between unrelated females. This includes Tonkean macaques, which are found in Sulawesi and the nearby Togian Islands in Indonesia, and Crested macaques, which are critically endangered.
(A wild crested macaque received international attention when he stole a wildlife photographer’s camera and then photographed himself. This could be an example of a “bold” and “curious” personality.)
Red-cheeked Gibbon Nomascus gabriellae
In the middle of the social tolerance scale are the Grade 2 and 3 species. This includes Assamese macaques, which are sometimes found at high altitudes in Nepal and Tibet, and Barbary macaques, which include the infamous “apes” of Gibraltar (actually monkeys, not apes), who are often overweight and aggressive because tourists overfeed them.
Do I look aggressive to you? Michelle Bender/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND
Personality differences between macaque species
Interestingly, the individual species of macaques didn’t all have the same personality factors. The Japanese, Barbary, crested and Tonkean macaques had only four, while the Assamese had five, and rhesus monkeys had six factors.
All of the species exhibited the dimension of Friendliness. This seems to be a personality factor unique to macaques, and is a blend of chimpanzee Agreeableness and human Altruism.
Tonkean macaques also had a Sociability personality factor. Just like chimpanzees and humans, this species of macaque uses affiliative contacts (i.e. friendship) to reinforce bonds. Only crested macaques did not show the personality factor of Openness (i.e. curiosity), usually found in humans and other primates. The factors Dominance and Anxiety were found for rhesus and Japanese macaques.
The old and the new
The study also showed the fascinating connections between personality and social style. Grade 1 despotic species – Japanese and rhesus macaques – were rather similar, and so were Grades 2, 3 and 4, including the more tolerant species such as Assamese, Tonkean and crested macaques.
On the evolutionary scale, African primates, such as the African Barbary macaque, are “older”. Therefore, they represented the “ancestral” social behaviours for macaques.
Barbary macaque personality has a Dominance/Confidence factor, which is related to social assertiveness, an Opportunism factor, which relates to aggression and impulsivity, a Friendliness factor, relating to social affiliation, and an Openness factor, relating to curiosity and exploratory behaviour.
Rhesus and Japanese macaques, on the other hand, are “younger” on the evolutionary scale. Therefore, the Dominance and Anxiety factors seen in these species must have evolved later.
Psst. You’re disagreeable. jinterwas/Flickr, CC BY
Understanding the personality of an individual animal or species can help in animal management and welfare. Rhesus macaques, for example, display an Anxiety personality factor. These monkeys are also most commonly used in bio-medical laboratory research. Knowing that some individuals may be prone to anxiety means that researchers must make extra efforts to alleviate any potential distress.
The findings that some Barbary macaques may be especially socially assertive, aggressive, impulsive, curious and exploratory may also help us convince tourists to keep their distance from these monkeys in Gibraltar to avoid conflicts!
Such studies of animal personality also shed light on our own personality dimensions. Our lack of a Dominance factor suggests that our ancestral environment was perhaps more egalitarian and less characterised by high social stratification, which is also borne out by anthropological and palaeontological studies.
Ultimately, we can learn a lot from our primate cousins, not only about their personalities, but about personality itself – not to mention learning a thing or two about ourselves and the social environment in which we evolved.
Carla Litchfield, Lecturer, School of Psychology, Social Work and Social Policy, University of South Australia This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Palm Oil Detectives @[email protected] · 2021-04-20 · 16:13 UTC
Monkey minds: what we can learn from primate personality
Carla Litchfield, University of South Australia
Every human is different. Some are outgoing, while others are reserved and shy. Some are focused and diligent, while others are haphazard and unfussed. Some people are curious, others avoid novelty and enjoy their rut.
This is reflected in our personality, which is typically measured across five factors, known as the “Big Five”. These are:

Fascinating #research by @UniversitySA #primates, just like us have unique personalities. Some are chilled, while others are chaotic, some are curious while others are conservative. Some are the life of the jungle party, others shy!
Tweet
- Openness – intellectual curiosity and preference for novelty
- Conscientiousness – the degree of organisation and self-discipline
- Extraversion – sociability, emotional expression and tendency to seek others’ company
- Agreeableness – degree of trust or suspicious of others and tendencies towards helpfulness and altruism, and
- Neuroticism – emotional stability or volatility.
But did you know that our primate cousins – other apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, gorillas and gibbons) and monkeys – also exhibit a similar personality profile? Some are bold, others shy. Some are friendly, other aggressive. Some are curious, while others are conservative.
But they also differ from us in some interesting ways. And it’s in teasing out these differences that we can learn a surprising amount about the way they live, and how they have evolved.
Purple-faced Langur Semnopithecus vetulus
Social influence
Comparative psychologists have long adapted personality tests to measure the personality of other species, including pets, big cats, and our “hairy” primate relatives.
Since nonhuman animals cannot fill out a questionnaire, a human who knows them well – perhaps a caregiver, zookeeper, owner, researcher or park ranger – rates their personality for them.
Chimpanzees, it turns out, are remarkably similar to us in their personality make-up. They have been found to have the same five personality factors that we have. However, they also have a sixth Dominance factor. This includes features such as: independent, confident, fearless, intelligent, bullying and persistent.
Why do chimps have a Dominance factor and we don’t? It appears to be due to the kind of society that chimps live in. Understanding the dominance hierarchy of male chimpanzees – who is powerful and who is not – is a matter of survival and well-being for every chimpanzee in a community.
Other primates also show interesting variations in personality that correspond to their social dynamics.
Do I look conscientious or neurotic? Rod Waddington/Flickr, CC BY-SA
Macaque machinations
The 22 species of macaque monkeys are the only primates that are as widespread in their distribution as we are. Along with their disparate habitats, they also have a wide variation in the structure of the societies, which appears to have influenced the evolution of their personalities.
A team of researchers, led by Mark Adams and Alexander Weiss of Edinburgh University, investigated personality and social structure in six species of macaque and found some interesting variation.
There are four main categories of social style, ranging from Grade 1 “despotic” to Grade 4 “tolerant”, depending on how strict or relaxed their female dominance hierarchies are.
Grade 1 species showed strong nepotism or favouritism towards kin and high ranking monkeys. These species include rhesus macaques, a species commonly used in laboratories and sent into space before humans, and Japanese macaques, which include the famous snow monkeys who soak in hot springs.
Lion tailed macaque
At the other end of the spectrum, the Grade 4 species showed more tolerance in social interactions between unrelated females. This includes Tonkean macaques, which are found in Sulawesi and the nearby Togian Islands in Indonesia, and Crested macaques, which are critically endangered.
(A wild crested macaque received international attention when he stole a wildlife photographer’s camera and then photographed himself. This could be an example of a “bold” and “curious” personality.)
Red-cheeked Gibbon Nomascus gabriellae
In the middle of the social tolerance scale are the Grade 2 and 3 species. This includes Assamese macaques, which are sometimes found at high altitudes in Nepal and Tibet, and Barbary macaques, which include the infamous “apes” of Gibraltar (actually monkeys, not apes), who are often overweight and aggressive because tourists overfeed them.
Do I look aggressive to you? Michelle Bender/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND
Personality differences between macaque species
Interestingly, the individual species of macaques didn’t all have the same personality factors. The Japanese, Barbary, crested and Tonkean macaques had only four, while the Assamese had five, and rhesus monkeys had six factors.
All of the species exhibited the dimension of Friendliness. This seems to be a personality factor unique to macaques, and is a blend of chimpanzee Agreeableness and human Altruism.
Tonkean macaques also had a Sociability personality factor. Just like chimpanzees and humans, this species of macaque uses affiliative contacts (i.e. friendship) to reinforce bonds. Only crested macaques did not show the personality factor of Openness (i.e. curiosity), usually found in humans and other primates. The factors Dominance and Anxiety were found for rhesus and Japanese macaques.
The old and the new
The study also showed the fascinating connections between personality and social style. Grade 1 despotic species – Japanese and rhesus macaques – were rather similar, and so were Grades 2, 3 and 4, including the more tolerant species such as Assamese, Tonkean and crested macaques.
On the evolutionary scale, African primates, such as the African Barbary macaque, are “older”. Therefore, they represented the “ancestral” social behaviours for macaques.
Barbary macaque personality has a Dominance/Confidence factor, which is related to social assertiveness, an Opportunism factor, which relates to aggression and impulsivity, a Friendliness factor, relating to social affiliation, and an Openness factor, relating to curiosity and exploratory behaviour.
Rhesus and Japanese macaques, on the other hand, are “younger” on the evolutionary scale. Therefore, the Dominance and Anxiety factors seen in these species must have evolved later.
Psst. You’re disagreeable. jinterwas/Flickr, CC BY
Understanding the personality of an individual animal or species can help in animal management and welfare. Rhesus macaques, for example, display an Anxiety personality factor. These monkeys are also most commonly used in bio-medical laboratory research. Knowing that some individuals may be prone to anxiety means that researchers must make extra efforts to alleviate any potential distress.
The findings that some Barbary macaques may be especially socially assertive, aggressive, impulsive, curious and exploratory may also help us convince tourists to keep their distance from these monkeys in Gibraltar to avoid conflicts!
Such studies of animal personality also shed light on our own personality dimensions. Our lack of a Dominance factor suggests that our ancestral environment was perhaps more egalitarian and less characterised by high social stratification, which is also borne out by anthropological and palaeontological studies.
Ultimately, we can learn a lot from our primate cousins, not only about their personalities, but about personality itself – not to mention learning a thing or two about ourselves and the social environment in which we evolved.
Carla Litchfield, Lecturer, School of Psychology, Social Work and Social Policy, University of South Australia
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
#amazingAnimals #animalBehaviour #animalExtinction #animalIntelligence #animalRights #animalrights #animals #CaquetáTitíMonkeyPlecturocebusCaquetensis #Primate #primates #primatology #ProboscisMonkeyNasalisLarvatus #research #RolowayMonkeyCercopithecusRoloway
#amazinganimals #animalbehaviour #animalextinction #animalintelligence #animalrights #animals
Palm Oil Detectives @[email protected] · 2021-04-20 · 16:13 UTC
Monkey minds: what we can learn from primate personality
Carla Litchfield, University of South Australia
Every human is different. Some are outgoing, while others are reserved and shy. Some are focused and diligent, while others are haphazard and unfussed. Some people are curious, others avoid novelty and enjoy their rut.
This is reflected in our personality, which is typically measured across five factors, known as the “Big Five”. These are:

Fascinating #research by @UniversitySA #primates, just like us have unique personalities. Some are chilled, while others are chaotic, some are curious while others are conservative. Some are the life of the jungle party, others shy!
Tweet
- Openness – intellectual curiosity and preference for novelty
- Conscientiousness – the degree of organisation and self-discipline
- Extraversion – sociability, emotional expression and tendency to seek others’ company
- Agreeableness – degree of trust or suspicious of others and tendencies towards helpfulness and altruism, and
- Neuroticism – emotional stability or volatility.
But did you know that our primate cousins – other apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, gorillas and gibbons) and monkeys – also exhibit a similar personality profile? Some are bold, others shy. Some are friendly, other aggressive. Some are curious, while others are conservative.
But they also differ from us in some interesting ways. And it’s in teasing out these differences that we can learn a surprising amount about the way they live, and how they have evolved.
Purple-faced Langur Semnopithecus vetulus
Social influence
Comparative psychologists have long adapted personality tests to measure the personality of other species, including pets, big cats, and our “hairy” primate relatives.
Since nonhuman animals cannot fill out a questionnaire, a human who knows them well – perhaps a caregiver, zookeeper, owner, researcher or park ranger – rates their personality for them.
Chimpanzees, it turns out, are remarkably similar to us in their personality make-up. They have been found to have the same five personality factors that we have. However, they also have a sixth Dominance factor. This includes features such as: independent, confident, fearless, intelligent, bullying and persistent.
Why do chimps have a Dominance factor and we don’t? It appears to be due to the kind of society that chimps live in. Understanding the dominance hierarchy of male chimpanzees – who is powerful and who is not – is a matter of survival and well-being for every chimpanzee in a community.
Other primates also show interesting variations in personality that correspond to their social dynamics.
Do I look conscientious or neurotic? Rod Waddington/Flickr, CC BY-SA
Macaque machinations
The 22 species of macaque monkeys are the only primates that are as widespread in their distribution as we are. Along with their disparate habitats, they also have a wide variation in the structure of the societies, which appears to have influenced the evolution of their personalities.
A team of researchers, led by Mark Adams and Alexander Weiss of Edinburgh University, investigated personality and social structure in six species of macaque and found some interesting variation.
There are four main categories of social style, ranging from Grade 1 “despotic” to Grade 4 “tolerant”, depending on how strict or relaxed their female dominance hierarchies are.
Grade 1 species showed strong nepotism or favouritism towards kin and high ranking monkeys. These species include rhesus macaques, a species commonly used in laboratories and sent into space before humans, and Japanese macaques, which include the famous snow monkeys who soak in hot springs.
Lion tailed macaque
At the other end of the spectrum, the Grade 4 species showed more tolerance in social interactions between unrelated females. This includes Tonkean macaques, which are found in Sulawesi and the nearby Togian Islands in Indonesia, and Crested macaques, which are critically endangered.
(A wild crested macaque received international attention when he stole a wildlife photographer’s camera and then photographed himself. This could be an example of a “bold” and “curious” personality.)
Red-cheeked Gibbon Nomascus gabriellae
In the middle of the social tolerance scale are the Grade 2 and 3 species. This includes Assamese macaques, which are sometimes found at high altitudes in Nepal and Tibet, and Barbary macaques, which include the infamous “apes” of Gibraltar (actually monkeys, not apes), who are often overweight and aggressive because tourists overfeed them.
Do I look aggressive to you? Michelle Bender/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND
Personality differences between macaque species
Interestingly, the individual species of macaques didn’t all have the same personality factors. The Japanese, Barbary, crested and Tonkean macaques had only four, while the Assamese had five, and rhesus monkeys had six factors.
All of the species exhibited the dimension of Friendliness. This seems to be a personality factor unique to macaques, and is a blend of chimpanzee Agreeableness and human Altruism.
Tonkean macaques also had a Sociability personality factor. Just like chimpanzees and humans, this species of macaque uses affiliative contacts (i.e. friendship) to reinforce bonds. Only crested macaques did not show the personality factor of Openness (i.e. curiosity), usually found in humans and other primates. The factors Dominance and Anxiety were found for rhesus and Japanese macaques.
The old and the new
The study also showed the fascinating connections between personality and social style. Grade 1 despotic species – Japanese and rhesus macaques – were rather similar, and so were Grades 2, 3 and 4, including the more tolerant species such as Assamese, Tonkean and crested macaques.
On the evolutionary scale, African primates, such as the African Barbary macaque, are “older”. Therefore, they represented the “ancestral” social behaviours for macaques.
Barbary macaque personality has a Dominance/Confidence factor, which is related to social assertiveness, an Opportunism factor, which relates to aggression and impulsivity, a Friendliness factor, relating to social affiliation, and an Openness factor, relating to curiosity and exploratory behaviour.
Rhesus and Japanese macaques, on the other hand, are “younger” on the evolutionary scale. Therefore, the Dominance and Anxiety factors seen in these species must have evolved later.
Psst. You’re disagreeable. jinterwas/Flickr, CC BY
Understanding the personality of an individual animal or species can help in animal management and welfare. Rhesus macaques, for example, display an Anxiety personality factor. These monkeys are also most commonly used in bio-medical laboratory research. Knowing that some individuals may be prone to anxiety means that researchers must make extra efforts to alleviate any potential distress.
The findings that some Barbary macaques may be especially socially assertive, aggressive, impulsive, curious and exploratory may also help us convince tourists to keep their distance from these monkeys in Gibraltar to avoid conflicts!
Such studies of animal personality also shed light on our own personality dimensions. Our lack of a Dominance factor suggests that our ancestral environment was perhaps more egalitarian and less characterised by high social stratification, which is also borne out by anthropological and palaeontological studies.
Ultimately, we can learn a lot from our primate cousins, not only about their personalities, but about personality itself – not to mention learning a thing or two about ourselves and the social environment in which we evolved.
Carla Litchfield, Lecturer, School of Psychology, Social Work and Social Policy, University of South Australia
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
#amazingAnimals #animalBehaviour #animalExtinction #animalIntelligence #animalRights #animalrights #animals #CaquetáTitíMonkeyPlecturocebusCaquetensis #Primate #primates #primatology #ProboscisMonkeyNasalisLarvatus #research #RolowayMonkeyCercopithecusRoloway
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Palm Oil Detectives @[email protected] · 2021-04-20 · 16:13 UTC
Monkey minds: what we can learn from primate personality
Carla Litchfield, University of South Australia
Every human is different. Some are outgoing, while others are reserved and shy. Some are focused and diligent, while others are haphazard and unfussed. Some people are curious, others avoid novelty and enjoy their rut.
This is reflected in our personality, which is typically measured across five factors, known as the “Big Five”. These are:

Fascinating #research by @UniversitySA #primates, just like us have unique personalities. Some are chilled, while others are chaotic, some are curious while others are conservative. Some are the life of the jungle party, others shy!
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- Openness – intellectual curiosity and preference for novelty
- Conscientiousness – the degree of organisation and self-discipline
- Extraversion – sociability, emotional expression and tendency to seek others’ company
- Agreeableness – degree of trust or suspicious of others and tendencies towards helpfulness and altruism, and
- Neuroticism – emotional stability or volatility.
But did you know that our primate cousins – other apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, gorillas and gibbons) and monkeys – also exhibit a similar personality profile? Some are bold, others shy. Some are friendly, other aggressive. Some are curious, while others are conservative.
But they also differ from us in some interesting ways. And it’s in teasing out these differences that we can learn a surprising amount about the way they live, and how they have evolved.
Purple-faced Langur Semnopithecus vetulus
Social influence
Comparative psychologists have long adapted personality tests to measure the personality of other species, including pets, big cats, and our “hairy” primate relatives.
Since nonhuman animals cannot fill out a questionnaire, a human who knows them well – perhaps a caregiver, zookeeper, owner, researcher or park ranger – rates their personality for them.
Chimpanzees, it turns out, are remarkably similar to us in their personality make-up. They have been found to have the same five personality factors that we have. However, they also have a sixth Dominance factor. This includes features such as: independent, confident, fearless, intelligent, bullying and persistent.
Why do chimps have a Dominance factor and we don’t? It appears to be due to the kind of society that chimps live in. Understanding the dominance hierarchy of male chimpanzees – who is powerful and who is not – is a matter of survival and well-being for every chimpanzee in a community.
Other primates also show interesting variations in personality that correspond to their social dynamics.
Do I look conscientious or neurotic? Rod Waddington/Flickr, CC BY-SA
Macaque machinations
The 22 species of macaque monkeys are the only primates that are as widespread in their distribution as we are. Along with their disparate habitats, they also have a wide variation in the structure of the societies, which appears to have influenced the evolution of their personalities.
A team of researchers, led by Mark Adams and Alexander Weiss of Edinburgh University, investigated personality and social structure in six species of macaque and found some interesting variation.
There are four main categories of social style, ranging from Grade 1 “despotic” to Grade 4 “tolerant”, depending on how strict or relaxed their female dominance hierarchies are.
Grade 1 species showed strong nepotism or favouritism towards kin and high ranking monkeys. These species include rhesus macaques, a species commonly used in laboratories and sent into space before humans, and Japanese macaques, which include the famous snow monkeys who soak in hot springs.
Lion tailed macaque
At the other end of the spectrum, the Grade 4 species showed more tolerance in social interactions between unrelated females. This includes Tonkean macaques, which are found in Sulawesi and the nearby Togian Islands in Indonesia, and Crested macaques, which are critically endangered.
(A wild crested macaque received international attention when he stole a wildlife photographer’s camera and then photographed himself. This could be an example of a “bold” and “curious” personality.)
Red-cheeked Gibbon Nomascus gabriellae
In the middle of the social tolerance scale are the Grade 2 and 3 species. This includes Assamese macaques, which are sometimes found at high altitudes in Nepal and Tibet, and Barbary macaques, which include the infamous “apes” of Gibraltar (actually monkeys, not apes), who are often overweight and aggressive because tourists overfeed them.
Do I look aggressive to you? Michelle Bender/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND
Personality differences between macaque species
Interestingly, the individual species of macaques didn’t all have the same personality factors. The Japanese, Barbary, crested and Tonkean macaques had only four, while the Assamese had five, and rhesus monkeys had six factors.
All of the species exhibited the dimension of Friendliness. This seems to be a personality factor unique to macaques, and is a blend of chimpanzee Agreeableness and human Altruism.
Tonkean macaques also had a Sociability personality factor. Just like chimpanzees and humans, this species of macaque uses affiliative contacts (i.e. friendship) to reinforce bonds. Only crested macaques did not show the personality factor of Openness (i.e. curiosity), usually found in humans and other primates. The factors Dominance and Anxiety were found for rhesus and Japanese macaques.
The old and the new
The study also showed the fascinating connections between personality and social style. Grade 1 despotic species – Japanese and rhesus macaques – were rather similar, and so were Grades 2, 3 and 4, including the more tolerant species such as Assamese, Tonkean and crested macaques.
On the evolutionary scale, African primates, such as the African Barbary macaque, are “older”. Therefore, they represented the “ancestral” social behaviours for macaques.
Barbary macaque personality has a Dominance/Confidence factor, which is related to social assertiveness, an Opportunism factor, which relates to aggression and impulsivity, a Friendliness factor, relating to social affiliation, and an Openness factor, relating to curiosity and exploratory behaviour.
Rhesus and Japanese macaques, on the other hand, are “younger” on the evolutionary scale. Therefore, the Dominance and Anxiety factors seen in these species must have evolved later.
Psst. You’re disagreeable. jinterwas/Flickr, CC BY
Understanding the personality of an individual animal or species can help in animal management and welfare. Rhesus macaques, for example, display an Anxiety personality factor. These monkeys are also most commonly used in bio-medical laboratory research. Knowing that some individuals may be prone to anxiety means that researchers must make extra efforts to alleviate any potential distress.
The findings that some Barbary macaques may be especially socially assertive, aggressive, impulsive, curious and exploratory may also help us convince tourists to keep their distance from these monkeys in Gibraltar to avoid conflicts!
Such studies of animal personality also shed light on our own personality dimensions. Our lack of a Dominance factor suggests that our ancestral environment was perhaps more egalitarian and less characterised by high social stratification, which is also borne out by anthropological and palaeontological studies.
Ultimately, we can learn a lot from our primate cousins, not only about their personalities, but about personality itself – not to mention learning a thing or two about ourselves and the social environment in which we evolved.
Carla Litchfield, Lecturer, School of Psychology, Social Work and Social Policy, University of South Australia
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Palm Oil Detectives @[email protected] · 2021-02-18 · 17:30 UTC
Caquetá Tití Monkey Plecturocebus caquetensis
Caquetá Tití Monkey Plecturocebus caquetensis
Status: Critically endangered
Location: Caquetá region of Colombia
https://youtu.be/vswRxx-IBEY
Caquetá Titi Monkeys have a distinctive song and they purr like a kitten they form monogamous partnerships. Discovered relatively recently in 2010, these beautiful and fascinating monkeys are now critically endangered due to the massive deforestation that is occurring in Colombia for palm oil and other commodities. It is believed that fewer than 100 individuals Caquetá Titi Monkeys are left in the wild and fewer than 50 mature individuals. The habitat of the Caquetá Titi Monkeys is in an advanced state of fragmentation caused by extensive cattle ranching and illegal crop cultivation. Fight for them and resist greed and greenwashing when you be #vegan #BoycottMeat #Boycott4Wildlife

Caquetá Titi Monkeys are monogamous and make a distinctive purrs like kittens. Discovered only in 2010 they’re now critically endangered 😿 from massive #deforestation in #Colombia for illegal coca and #meat 🐵🐒🙈 #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/02/19/caqueta-titi-monkey-plecturocebus-caquetensis/
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There are fewer than 100 Caquetá Titi Monkeys left in #Colombia due to #meat and illegal cultivation of #coca. Help them when you shop and be #vegan and fight for them 🐵🐒🙈 #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/02/19/caqueta-titi-monkey-plecturocebus-caquetensis/
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It’s suspected that there are fewer than 100 individuals Caquetá Titi Monkeys left in the wild and fewer than 50 mature individuals. The habitat of the Caquetá Titi Monkeys is in an advanced state of fragmentation caused by extensive ranching and illegal crop cultivation.
IUCN Red List
The Caquetá titi monkey Plecturocebus caquetensis is a rare and endearing primate known for its monogamous pair bonds and harmonious duets. Found only in Colombia’s Caquetá region, these small monkeys are an emblem of the country’s rich biodiversity. Tragically, their populations are critically endangered due to extensive deforestation, agricultural expansion, and climate change-driven habitat loss.
Support indigenous-led conservation to secure their future. Fight for their survival every time you shop and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Appearance and Behaviour
The Caquetá titi monkey is a small, endearing primate of under 40 cm in length with soft, reddish-brown fur around their mouths, expressive eyes and a white face which gives them a striking, doll-like appearance. Their dark, bushy tails—longer than their bodies—are perfect for balancing as they navigate the forest canopy.
What truly sets them apart is their unique duet vocalisations, akin to kitten purring or gentle hums. These sounds between bonded pairs are a testament to the deep bonds shared between them. Their soft, melodic exchanges ripple through their forest home in Caquetá, Colombia, reinforcing their connection and marking their territory.
Caquetá titis are arboreal primates who spend most of their time in the treetops, although they may descend to the forest floor during drier months. Their behaviour shifts with the seasons, showcasing their adaptability and quiet resilience in a rapidly changing environment.

Threats
IUCN Status: Critically Endangered (Defler et al., 2020).
This species is listed as Critically Endangered because of a population decline, suspected to be more than 80% over 24 years (three generations), due to a reduction of the area of occupation caused by extensive ranching and illegal crop cultivation, and the causes of the reduction have certainly not stopped.
IUCN Red LIST
The primary threats to the Caquetá titi monkey include:
• Habitat loss: Over 90% of their habitat has been cleared due to cattle ranching and coca cultivation (Defler et al., 2020).
• Climate change: Shifting habitats and reduced availability of suitable areas have led to further fragmentation (Arias-González et al., 2023).
• Small population size: The species is limited to fragmented patches of forest, leaving them genetically isolated and vulnerable (Acero Murcia et al., 2024).
Diet
Caquetá titi monkeys are frugivores, consuming a diet primarily of fruits, complemented by seeds, flowers, and occasionally insects. Their dietary habits are closely linked to the seasonal availability of fruiting plants, which influences their movement patterns and foraging behaviour (Acero Murcia et al., 2024).
Reproduction and Mating
These monkeys are known for their monogamous relationships, with pairs forming lifelong bonds. Females typically give birth to a single offspring after a gestation period of about five months. Males are actively involved in raising the young, carrying them and sharing feeding responsibilities (Acero Murcia et al., 2024).
Geographic Range
Endemic to Colombia, the Caquetá titi monkey inhabits small, fragmented forest patches in the Caquetá region. Their distribution is highly restricted, and they rely heavily on riparian forest corridors for survival (Arias-González et al., 2023).
FAQ
How many Caquetá titi monkeys are left?
Fewer than 250 individuals remain in the wild, making them one of the most endangered primates in the world (Defler et al., 2020). The fragmented nature of their habitat exacerbates their vulnerability, highlighting the need for immediate conservation action.
What does the Caquetá titi monkey eat?
Primarily frugivorous, their diet is made up of a variety of fruits, seeds, and occasionally insects. Seasonal changes in fruit availability influence their foraging patterns, and habitat loss threatens their food sources (Acero Murcia et al., 2024).
Why are they critically endangered?
Rampant deforestation, habitat fragmentation, and agricultural expansion have decimated their habitat. Additionally, climate change has further reduced their viable habitats, making them critically endangered (Arias-González et al., 2023).
What is the rarest titi monkey?
The Caquetá titi monkey is considered one of the rarest titi species due to its limited population and highly fragmented habitat (Souza-Alves et al., 2023).
What role do they play in the ecosystem?
As seed dispersers, Caquetá titi monkeys play a vital role in maintaining the biodiversity and regeneration of their rainforest ecosystem (Souza-Alves et al., 2023).
Support the conservation of this species
This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.
Further Information
Acero Murcia, A. C., Almario-Vaquiro, L., Ortega, Z., & Garcia, J. (2024). Seasonal behavioral patterns of the Caquetá titi monkey (Plecturocebus caquetensis). Primate Conservation, 38, 1–11. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/385416515_Seasonal_Behavioral_Patterns_of_the_Caqueta_Titi_Monkey_Plecturocebus_caquetensis
Arias-González, C., González-Maya, J. F., García-Villalba, J., Blázquez, M. C., Arreola Lizárraga, J. A., Díaz Castro, S. C., & Ortega Rubio, A. (2023). The identification and conservation of climate refugia for two Colombian endemic titi (Plecturocebus) monkeys. Journal for Nature Conservation, 72, Article 126345. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2023.126345
Souza-Alves, J. P., Boyle, S. A., & Barnett, A. A. (2023). Knowledge shortfalls for titi monkey: A poorly known clade of small-bodied South American primates. Biological Conservation, 286, Article 110256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2023.110256
Defler, T.R., García-Gutiérrez, J., Stevenson, P.R., Guzmàn-Caro, D. & Palacios, E. 2020. Plecturocebus caquetensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020: e.T14699281A17974505. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T14699281A17974505.en. Downloaded on 15 February 2021.

Caquetá Tití Monkey Plecturocebus caquetensis

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