On an island in Panama, a researcher named "The Insects Disturbing" recently stood out among a group of young male monkeys.

These teenagers and teenagers began kidnapping babies from another monkey species, seemingly just to kick.

That's what scientists think of watching a bunch of male white-headed monkeys and baby howller monkeys cling to their backs.

Confusing baby capture, Report In the diary Current Biologyshowing that humans are not the only smart species with young people, which are clearly meaningless activities that may destroy other organisms.

"They just do it, reduce boredom or something to fill the time and space in life. I think it's a bit horrible to see what's happening in another species because it reflects the mirror of the actions we do as people." Brendan Barrettan expert in animal culture at the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior in Germany and a member of the research team, is also a research assistant at the Smithsonian Tropical Institute.

He described the capuchin as "a chaotic agent", roaming the forest, tearing and manipulating all sight, and in many ways said they were similar to humans and chimpanzees.

“They are highly innovative, they are highly explored,” he said. “They do interesting, weird things.”

Island innovator

Capuchin monkeys who began kidnapping Howler Monkey Babies live on Jicarón Island, part of the Coiba National Park in Panama. Unlike mainland roll-tail rolls, these island monkeys have figured out how to use stone tools to destroy open hard foods such as seeds, crabs and coconuts. That's why scientists have been watching them there since 2017 with the help of wildlife cameras.

ZoëgoldsboroughBehavioral ecologists at Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior and Smithsonian Research Assistant are reviewing camera footage, and to her surprise, she saw a capuchin monkey with how-cawking monkeys.

"This is not something we've seen before. It's not something I've heard of," Goldsborough said. "I think, I wonder if it's just a capuchin monkey, it looks weird. But then it's very quickly and quickly clear that it's a different species."

Curious, she began to browse more videos. Obviously, it's not just a one-off. This is repeated, starting in January 2022, when specific immature men researchers call "The Joker" appear to be the "innovators" of the new campaign.

Goldsborough said the clown could be recognised because of the small scars on his face. Over a few months, the camera caught him carrying four different babies, each lasting nine days.

This is a tragic development for babies, as they are not nutritious and deteriorate significantly over time.

"They may die from dehydration or lack of nutrition," Barrett said, noting that these babies need mother's milk and that several actually die from camera lenses.

However, other young male tail rolls who saw the Joker's novel behavior decided to copy it.

Starting in September, within a six-month period, researchers saw four other immature males (two sub-genders and two teenagers) surrounding howworm babies. These tail rolls had at least seven different Howler Monkey Babies and took them away for two to eight days.

Monkey looks, monkeys do it

Although it does sometimes adopt young people of other species that are lost or abandoned, this doesn’t seem to be the case here, partly because of the large number of babies.

Additionally, researchers can hear adult howling monkeys and babies calling back and forth, and they sometimes try to crawl away. The camera footage shows an adult roarer coming to try to retrieve the baby once, while the curly curl is frightened.

Since the actual kidnapping may occur in the trees, it is not captured on the camera. But researchers noted that adult roars have recently tripled the weight of immature curly glue, so possible kidnappers may face serious risks.

"I personally really want to know how they got them, but mainly how much effort they put into it?" said Goldsborough, who noted that the number of stolen babies suggests that the capsules might travel a distance, as there are only a few small groups of howl monkeys live nearby. “If they were going to put in so much effort to attract these babies, I would find it totally strange.”

While the curly roll named Joker seems to take a caring and affectionate stance to the baby, the other curly rolls that replicate him seem to be ignorant and sometimes even annoyed by the babies they carry.

Meanwhile, the adult tail rolls in the group appear to be blind.

"There is no huge social interest. You know, they are not acting in someone's way, if I carry the baby lion on my shoulders," Barrett said.

For Goldsborough, the fact that the clown’s behavior was copied by his peers reveals the power of these monkeys to learn from others, even if the behavior does not make completely meaningful or obvious, direct benefits.

She noted that even for the use of stone tools for these monkeys, it would take some time to master, noting, “There was a time, especially when you were young, that you just replicated this behavior in very little reward.”

Grab the camera

This is not the first time that animals seem to be unpurpose-free behaviors that appear to be spread through their populations.

For example, chimpanzees have always been spot Obviously a fashion trend. and orcas have been seen Wear The dead salmon on their heads almost looked like a hat.

However, it is unusual to capture the rise and spread of new trends by just recording using remote cameras. "It's an exciting thing to find another way to study animal culture," Barrett said.

For the sake of the Holler monkeys, he hopes their cameras will exterminate the hobby.

Because infant robbery must hit the local how-called monkey population, because these monkeys do not breed often and only have one baby at a time.

One thing researchers want to know now is whether the Holler monkeys would start changing their behavior to accommodate a fearful and unexpected new threat if they had been a haven for a long time, without a large number of predators and abundant food.

In fact, easy living on this island might be why capuchin monkeys have the time and freedom to try to do random things that lead to activities such as using tools or kidnapping, the researchers say.

“We know that boredom is very beneficial to creativity and innovation in humans,” Goldsborough said.

For these island cape fish, catching how-cawed monkey babies can simply become “a thing that goes through time,” Barrett said, “in a boring environment, it’s relatively safe to propose these potential risk innovations.”

Christopher KrupenyeHe studied cognition in primates at Johns Hopkins University and was not part of the research team, saying he had seen other primates capture and play with animals they didn't eat.

“In this case, innovators may be driven by curiosity and interest,” Krupenny said. “And, given how social and cultural tail volumes are, other observers may have begun to replicate behavior.”

He believes that camera trap lenses are “a huge asset to the research program,” but it would be helpful to have a more direct view of capsules and how they interact with Howlers to better understand how these babies are captured and how they spread.

He said the end roll is “a notorious cultural species that shows a variety of adaptable cultural traditions, such as using tools to get food, but there are also many arbitrary foods.” “A community tradition, individuals put a group’s fingers in their own eyes.”