Comparative Primate Cognition: Lemurs and Red-tailed Monkeys

Blue-eyed black lemur (Eulemur flavifrons).  I have decided to paint the containers different colors/markings. One color will be filled with treats, and the other color will be empty. The goal is to see how quickly the animals pick up on this, if they do, and focus their energy on opening the correct colored containers. In doing the research for this project, I needed to figure out what colors to use. I discovered that most lemurs are red/green colorblind. This means they have trouble distinguishing those colors from others. Therefore, I am thinking that I will use yellow and blue paints for both the red-tailed monkeys (who have full color vision) and the lemurs, who are red/green colorblind. https://www.healthline.com/health/deuteranopia Interestingly, there are sometimes individual lemurs born with full color vision, kind of like how there are sometimes individual humans born...

 I want to be able to measure behavioral differences between the two species --- how their interactions with the new stimulus differ between each other and what that may mean. How quickly do the animals investigate the new items? How quickly do they figure out that they hold food and how to get into them?How quickly and how well do they figure out, if they do, that only certain containers hold a reward? And finally, how well, if they do, do they remember everything they have learned from their previous encounters with the stimulus, after a period of absence from it? So, the stimulus and protocols need to be the same for both, which shouldn't be a problem as the stimulus will be designed to fit both primate species capabilities.  At first, I was thinking of doing plastic boxes with a lift lid. This would work easily as far as putting food items inside and watching them interact with them. However, after purchasing a lift-lid box, filling it with tuna and cat treats and presenti...

After being awarded funding from my school's program SURF for my comparative primate research project design, I am embarking on this summer project, which will culminate in a senior thesis. So looking forward to working with these amazing animals and learning more!   In the realms of primatology and animal science, it is generally considered that Old World monkeys possess greater cognitive powers than lemurs. I will be investigating this assumption through the observational analysis and testing of these animals’ cognitive abilities. This will include comparing skills such as memory and problem solving between populations of these primates at the Oakland Zoo, a leader in animal welfare and conservation. Species included will be red-tailed monkeys (Cercopithecus Ascanius) , crowned lemurs (Eulemur coronatus) , and ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta). Through the presenting of containers filled with high-value food items, and periods of absence from this stimulus, I plan to discover the...