Чёрная капуцина: Социальное поведение и питание.

Species of New World monkey

The black capuchin (Sapajus nigritus), also known as the black horned capuchin,

The black capuchin is a social animal. It likes to live in groups, usually consisting of 6 to 20 members, and is hierarchical. Even though these groups tend to be made up of more females than males, the alpha female of the group is submissive to the alpha male. The size of the group operates as a function of food availability; size and cohesiveness are highest when food is readily available. When food is scarce, black capuchins split up into smaller groups to cover more ground on a per capita basis. This is observed both seasonally in the short term and over the course of years in the long term. The larger the group, the more food they need, which in turn leads to more travel.

Grooming plays a central role in bonding between black capuchins. It serves the obvious purpose of hygiene, evidenced by how the monkeys focus their efforts on the areas of their partner which their partner cannot groom themselves. Grooming, however, also serves several social functions, all associated with bonding. For example, it allows for low rank black capuchins to bond with the dominant members of the group and for members at odds with each other to reconcile and relieve tension. The purpose of such bonding is often for lower ranked monkeys to procure easier food access from dominant bond partners. Females, for example, might compete to groom the dominant female Still, same sex grooming is rare, however, with little to no evidence of male male grooming and female female grooming accounting for a minority of cases. Female female grooming only occurs when the group is highly cohesive. Those vocalized after mating may function to assure the chosen mate of his paternity by making the whole affair public knowledge and thereby encourage him to guard both the female and her resulting offspring from competing mates and infanticide. In this context, the purpose of male postcoital courtship is perhaps revealed to be mate protection. For the same ends, the potentially impregnated female might uses visual signals to assure the alpha of his status as her mate while using vocalizations to confuse the other males as to who the father truly is and thereby discourage aggression.

Black capuchin monkeys are omnivorous. They eat a wide variety of foods, including insects, bird eggs, small vertebrates, leaves, bulbs, seeds and fruits. Their choice among these depends primarily on seasonal availability. While they are considered generalist feeders, fruit can make up as much as three or four fifths of their diet. They are apt to experiment with new sources, which results in them consuming a diverse diet. One group of black capuchins, for example, ate 61 of 145 fruits available to them in their environment. When they exist in small patches of forest which lack adequate amounts of fruit to feed the whole group, black capuchins have been known to exploit nearby agricultural operations by stripping the bark from trees to eat the pine sap and phloem underneath.

The black capuchin has three subspecies: Sapajus n. nigritus (nominate) and S. n. cucullatus are found in the southern part (the former eastwards, and the latter westwards) of this species' range, and both have a distinctive pair of tufts on the crown, as also suggested by the alternative common name of this species; black horned capuchin. The last subspecies, the crested or robust tufted capuchin (S. n. robustus) is found in the northern part of this species' range (north of the Doce River), and has a median conical crest on the crown. It is sometimes considered a separate species.

The black capuchin's population number is unknown, but thought to be declining. This is due mostly to habitat loss, hunting, and the pet trade, however the species has been observed to be able to survive in fragmented and sparse areas of canopy.