A study reveals that cultural heritage may affect the tools that Capuchin monkeys choose

Few primates, including Capuchin monkeys employ tools in daily life.

Cashew nuts, West Indian locust seed pods, jatobá in Brazil, and other hard foods are cracked open using stones by Capuchin monkeys in the Cerrado and Caatinga as hammers and anvils. The instruments are bits of quartzite and sandstone discovered in locations known as processing sites. The only reason the animals visit these locations is to search for th…