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We recently discovered a 2nd population of stone tool-using white-faced capuchins on the island of Coiba. Short communication out in IJP:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10764-020-00156-5">https://link.springer.com/article/1...
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10764-020-00156-5">https://link.springer.com/article/1...
This is exciting as we found hammer stones and anvils used to open up snails in streams up to 1 km away from the coast. Also found Bactris sp. palm fruits opened up.
This population has been geographically isolated from the other population on Isla Jicaron for at 12-18k years. They are ~39 km apart separated by ocean. We think this is likely a 2nd independent innovation on Coiba due to similar ecological conditions...
...although this behavior being previously widespread and then going extinct is another possibility. We are excited to search more locations on Coiba for other pops, although we will need to be strategic about where to search as Coiba is the largest island in Tropical Americas
Looking forward to being able to do comparative between pop/group studies in the future with @ClaudioMonteza @MegCrofoot @tdogandzic and our awesome Panamanian research assistants
Here are some camera trap photos of an adult female processing snails (the plot thickens) @livingingroups @stri_panama @maxplanckpress @CoibaAIP
Also, this should have been published open access and will put up link once it is (hopefully) corrected
