Carrying and hand-use patterns in Panamanian white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus)

The aim of this project was to examine the potential influence of postural regulation on capuchin hand-use patterns by focusing on tasks that involved the carrying of objects. Two months were spent on Barro Colorado Island, P anama, collecting data on ten white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus) (four adult males/ six adult females). Over 215 contact hours were spent with th e monkeys, and a total of 213 carries were recorded. No hand preference bia s at the population level was found for the carry task; and no detectable h and-use patterns for carry were correlated with the weight of the object ca rried (except a right-hand bias for carrying medium-sized objects), the pla ne of the monkey's movement, its locomotor pattern, or its height above the ground. Therefore, the results of this study do not support the hypothesis that the need for postural regulation while carrying an object influences hand-use patterns in free-ranging capuchins. Our results are especially imp ortant because they are contrary to the results of the only other free-rang ing capuchin laterality study conducted to date (PANGER, 1998).