Three squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) learned to reach toward a container that covered food if a cooperative trainer rewarded such reaches by giving the food. A competitive trainer kept any food found, but wrong selections by this trainer were also rewarded. The monkeys initially reached toward the baited container indiscriminately, but gradually and with the aid of color-cued containers, all 3 reliably reached "honestly" and "deceptively" in the presence of the cooperative and competitive trainers, respectively. The monkeys did not appear to take the trainers' knowledge about the location of the food into account, and deception did not occur if food was placed under the normally unbaited container. With additional containers present, monkeys misled the competitive trainer into selecting the unbaited container farthest from the baited one. Although not indicative of mental attribution, the monkeys' behavior suggests awareness of the acquired communicative function of the reaching response.
ABSTRACT Flagship species are used to promote conservation and tourism. Africa's famous ‘ Big five ’ have become marketing flagships that fundraisers and tourism promoters emulate globally. Species can be selected systematically for marketing using characteristics such as colour, size or behaviour, but this approach can overlook unique animals or homogenise selections. Alternatively, polling the public can reveal existing preferences for animals directly. We used questionnaires with tourists in the Peruvian Amazon to identify existing biases for species and rank them for suitability for tourism and conservation marketing. Polling revealed several species that would not be considered good flagship candidates using systematic methods based on species characteristics. ‘Free listing’ tourists expressed preferences at inconsistent taxonomic levels. The response ‘monkeys’ (infraorder Simiiformes) was highest ranked, followed by ‘jaguar’ ( Panthera onca ), ‘Amazon dolphin’ ( Inia geoffrensis ), ‘sloths’ (suborder Folivora), and ‘caiman’ (subfamily Caimaninae) and ‘birds’ (class Aves). When ranking from a preselected shortlist, jaguar, Amazon dolphins and sloths (represented by Bradypus variegatus ) remained popular, while vote splitting within higher taxonomic levels, in particular monkeys, made room for green‐winged macaw ( Ara chloropterus ) and anaconda ( Eunectes murinus ). When asked about their willingness to pay for excursions or donate to conservation, tourists were overwhelmingly more likely to quote larger figures for jaguars than any other species, but results for other species were more homogenous. Some popular taxonomic groups are diverse in Amazonia; up to 14 monkey species may be present at some sites Amazonia, alongside several hundred bird species. A Big five strategy obscures this diversity. Using physical characteristics as selection criteria underplays diversity and overlooks popular taxa—notably sloths for the Amazon. A strategy of polling the public to select popular species as flagships more directly identifies salient species for marketing and efficiently considers existing biases. However, diversity will trump a Big five approach in megadiverse areas.
Flagship species are used to promote conservation and tourism. Africa's famous 'Big Five', have become marketing flagships that fundraisers and tourism promoters emulate on other continents, choosing regional groups of species for marketing campaigns. Selections can be based on characteristics identified as appealing: colour, size, or behaviour, but this approach may overlook unique flagships or homogenise seelctions. Polling the public to reveal existing preferences for animals may identify suitable species more directly. We used questionnaires with tourists in the Peruvian Amazon to identify existing biases for species suitable for tourism and conservation marketing. Without a species list, preferences were expressed at inconsistent taxonomic levels. The response 'monkeys' (infraorder Simiiformes) was highest ranked, followed by 'jaguar' (Panthera onca), 'Amazon dolphin' (Inia geoffrensis), 'sloths' (suborder Folivora), 'caiman' (subfamily Caimaninae) and 'birds' (class Aves). When ranking species from a preselected shortlist, jaguar, Amazon dolphins, and sloths (represented by Bradypus variegatus) remained popular, while vote splitting within higher taxonomic levels, in particular monkeys, made room in the top rankings for green-winged macaw (Ara chloropterus) and anaconda (Eunectes murinus). When asked about their willingness to pay for excursions or donate to conservation, tourists were overwhelmingly more likely to quote larger figures to see or conserve jaguars than any other species, but results for other species were more homogenous. Important species for tourism in rainforest regions are often from diverse taxonomic groups; monkeys may be represented by 8-14 species at single sites in Amazonia, birds by several hundred species. A big five strategy obscures this diversity. Similarly, using physical characteristics as selection criteria underplays diversity and can overlook popular taxa. A strategy of polling the public to identify regional flagships more directly identifies salient species for marketing and is especially useful where budgets are limited, but diversity may trump the Big five approach in megadiverse areas.
There has been little research over the past few decades focusing on similarities and differences in the form and function of emotional signals in nonhuman primates, or whether these communication systems are homologous with those of humans. This is, in part, due to the fact that detailed and objective measurement tools to answer such questions have not been systematically developed for nonhuman primate research. Despite this, emotion research in humans has benefited for over 30 years from an objective, anatomically based facial-measurement tool: the Facial Action Coding System. In collaboration with other researchers, we have now developed a similar system for chimpanzees (ChimpFACS) and, in the process, have made exciting new discoveries regarding chimpanzees' perception and categorization of emotional facial expressions, similarities in the facial anatomy of chimpanzees and humans, and we have identified homologous facial movements in the two species. Investigating similarities and differences in primate emotional communication systems is essential if we are to understand unique evolutionary specializations among different species.
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