Biomaterial Database

Distinct perceptuomotor features of percussive tooling in humans (Homo sapiens) and wild bearded capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus). 2020

Madhur Mangalam, and Lindsey K R Roles, and Dorothy M Fragaszy

Department of Psychology, University of Georgia.

Adjustment of percussive movements to match the energetic requirements of the task serves as an index of skill in stone-knapping and nut-cracking. In this study, we compared strike-by-strike adjustment of percussive movements in expert bearded capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) and (novice and expert) humans cracking palm nuts (Astrocaryum spp.) using stone hammers of varying mass. The monkeys regulated each strike's amplitude and hammer's velocity at impact to a small degree based on the propagation of a fracture in the nut's shell but overall struck a nut with consistent kinetic energy for a given hammer. They showed the smallest movement variability across strikes among all groups. Novice humans took the most strikes to crack a nut among all groups. Expert humans took the fewest strikes among all groups while showing the largest variation in hammer's kinetic energy at impact and largest movement variability across strikes. Overall, our findings confirm that expert humans can adjust their strikes more precisely to meet variable task demands and are more efficient than monkeys or novice humans in cracking nuts, but the findings also show a surprising advantage for expert monkeys over novice humans. The monkeys' strategy of striking with consistent amplitude and velocity is advantageous when hammer mass is adequate to generate sufficient kinetic energy at impact and crack open a nut in few strikes without requiring fine adjustments, explaining why the monkeys are particularly attentive to a stone's mass when choosing it as a hammer. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D009754	Nuts	Botanically, a type of single-seeded fruit in which the pericarp enclosing the seed is a hard woody shell. In common usage the term is used loosely for any hard, oil-rich kernel. Of those commonly eaten, only hazel, filbert, and chestnut are strictly nuts. Walnuts, pecans, almonds, and coconuts are really drupes. Brazil nuts, pistachios, macadamias, and cashews are really seeds with a hard shell derived from the testa rather than the pericarp.	Nut
D005247	Feeding Behavior	Behavioral responses or sequences associated with eating including modes of feeding, rhythmic patterns of eating, and time intervals.	Dietary Habits,Eating Behavior,Faith-based Dietary Restrictions,Feeding Patterns,Feeding-Related Behavior,Food Habits,Diet Habits,Eating Habits,Behavior, Eating,Behavior, Feeding,Behavior, Feeding-Related,Behaviors, Eating,Behaviors, Feeding,Behaviors, Feeding-Related,Diet Habit,Dietary Habit,Dietary Restriction, Faith-based,Dietary Restrictions, Faith-based,Eating Behaviors,Eating Habit,Faith based Dietary Restrictions,Faith-based Dietary Restriction,Feeding Behaviors,Feeding Pattern,Feeding Related Behavior,Feeding-Related Behaviors,Food Habit,Habit, Diet,Habit, Dietary,Habit, Eating,Habit, Food,Habits, Diet,Pattern, Feeding,Patterns, Feeding,Restrictions, Faith-based Dietary
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D013647	Task Performance and Analysis	The detailed examination of observable activity or behavior associated with the execution or completion of a required function or unit of work.	Critical Incident Technique,Critical Incident Technic,Task Performance,Task Performance, Analysis,Critical Incident Technics,Critical Incident Techniques,Incident Technic, Critical,Incident Technics, Critical,Incident Technique, Critical,Incident Techniques, Critical,Performance, Analysis Task,Performance, Task,Performances, Analysis Task,Performances, Task,Task Performances,Task Performances, Analysis,Technic, Critical Incident,Technics, Critical Incident,Technique, Critical Incident,Techniques, Critical Incident
D016646	Cebinae	A subfamily of New World monkeys in the family CEBIDAE. They inhabit the forests of South and Central America and comprise members of the genus CEBUS.
D053001	Tool Use Behavior	Modifying, carrying, or manipulating an item external to itself by an animal, before using it to effect a change on the environment or itself (from Beck, Animal Tool Behavior, 1980).	Behavior, Tool Use,Behaviors, Tool Use,Tool Use Behaviors