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INSIDECOSTARICA.COM
| LIFESTYLE
| Tuesday
01 March 2011 |
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Male
Monkeys
Attract
Females
By
Washing
In Urine
(PhysOrg.com)
-- Male
capuchin
monkeys
have
been
observed
to
urinate
on their
hands
and then
rub the
urine
vigorously
into
their
fur, and
now a
new
study by
scientists
in Texas
suggests
the
behavior
signals
their
availability
to
females,
and the
females
find the
smell of
the
urine-soaked
fur
attractive.
Wild
Capuchin
monkey (Cebus
capucinus),
on a
tree
near a
river
bank in
the
jungles
of
Guanacaste,
Costa
Rica.
Image:
David M.
Jensen/Wikipedia.
The new
research,
by Dr
Kimberley
Phillips
and
colleagues
of the
Department
of
Psychology
at
Trinity
University
in San
Antonio,
used
functional
magnetic
resonance
imaging
(fMRI)
scans to
study
the
brains
of four
adult
female
tufted
capuchin
monkeys
(Cebus
apella)
while
they
were
smelling
the
urine of
juvenile
males
and of
sexually
mature
adults.
The
results
showed
the
monkeys’
brain
scans
were
different
when
they
were
exposed
to the
urine of
juveniles
and
adults,
becoming
much
more
active
when the
urine
was from
adult
males.
Several
regions
of the
brain
were
activated
when the
females
were
sniffing
the
adult
male
urine,
especially
those
regions
associated
with
olfactory
processing.
Dr
Phillips
and her
team
suggest
the
increased
activity
shows
the
urine is
being
used as
a means
of
communicating
the
male’s
sexual
availability
and
social
status.
The
females’
ability
to
discriminate
between
the
urine of
young
monkeys
and
sexually
mature
adults
also
suggests
the
females
are able
to
detect
the
higher
levels
of
testosterone
in the
adult
males’
urine.
Higher
testosterone
levels
are
linked
with
sexual
maturity
and also
higher
social
status
in
capuchin
monkeys.
Previous
hypotheses
put
forward
to
explain
the
urine-washing
behavior
included
maintenance
of body
temperature
and as a
means of
identification
of
individuals,
but
studies
testing
these
hypotheses
have
been
inconclusive.
Another
study
reported
that
when
females
solicited
the
males,
which
they do
when
they are
at their
peak in
fertility,
the
males
increased
the
frequency
of
washing
with
urine.
Several
other
species
of New
World
monkeys
show the
same
behavior
of
urinating
into
their
hands
and then
rubbing
it on
their
fur.
They
include
squirrel
monkeys,
mantled
howler
monkeys,
and
other
species
of
capuchins.
The
paper is
published
in the
American
Journal
of
Primatology.
Dr
Phillips,
an
associate
professor
of
psychology,
is
investigating
the
biological
and
neurological
bases of
primate
behaviors.
More
information:
Why do
capuchin
monkeys
urine
wash? An
experimental
test of
the
sexual
communication
hypothesis
using
fMRI, by
Kimberley
A.
Phillips
et al.
American
Journal
of
Primatology
Early
View,
DOI:10.1002/ajp.20931
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