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Just out: article on interspecies abduction in Current Biology

  • Writer: Zoë Goldsborough
    Zoë Goldsborough
  • May 19
  • 1 min read

It has been a long time in the making, but the fourth chapter of my PhD - documenting the rise and spread of an entirely bizarre and novel tradition of interspecies abduction - is now out in Current Biology!


You can find the article here and an interactive online supplemental timeline here.


One of the carriers, a subadult male named Terry, carrying a one day old howler infant on his back while using stone tools to crack a sea almond.
One of the carriers, a subadult male named Terry, carrying a one day old howler infant on his back while using stone tools to crack a sea almond.

Very short summary: the tool-using capuchins of Jicarón Island started abducting and carrying howler monkey infants, seemingly for no good reason! All the carriers are male, and they don't predate the infants or play with them. They just carry them around, in a surprising and fascinating example of animal fads, showing how the conditions on Jicarón island may be favorable to innovation.


Read all about it in some of the great news coverage the article has received:


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