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Counting Digits — Description
January 2013. This is a young Crested Capuchin Monkey. This particular monkey was sitting up on a perch meditatively, seemingly counting his fingers, or inspecting them at the least. The sun was starting to set and shining on the back of him, illuminating his eyes when he turned towards it, and his passive observational actions seemed almost human in its subtlety.

One of the places we planned to visit while in LA was the LA Zoo. I hadn't been to a zoo in...I really can't remember, honestly, and was excited to walk around and see what sort of animals the LA Zoo had. Before heading there, we stopped over at my friend Jimmy's apartment; Jimmy handed us off a 75-300mm zoom lens, as the most telephoto lens I own is a 100mm prime, and I thought the extra reach would come in handy for shooting animals from a distance - I was right about that.

From the LA Zoo website:
Capuchins belong to the cebid family of New World (Western hemisphere) monkeys. These playful creatures are also highly intelligent.

STATUS: Crested capuchins are listed as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

HABITAT: These monkeys have a small range in east Brazil’s Atlantic forests, isolated in remnant forest patches.

DIET: Crested capuchins are omnivorous, eating a more diverse diet than other new world monkeys. They enjoy fruits, seeds, nuts, insects, other invertebrates, and crops. Their deeper, lower jaw, massive jaw muscles, and thick molar enamel allow them to eat more vegetation and larger fruits and nuts than other cebids. They pollinate flowers and trees, dispersing pollen and seeds as they move through the forest.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: These monkeys average about 7 pounds; males are 1-2 pounds heavier than females. Adults measure 19-20 inches with tails about 17 inches long. They have brown to red-brown fur with black hands, feet, and tail ends, and a crest of black hair on top of the head. Their typical, New World, “platyrrhine” faces feature rounded nostrils facing outward and a broader nasal septum than Old World monkeys. Only the last part of the fully furred tail is prehensile, and provides support on tree branches. Capuchins have some color vision, and good hearing and sense of smell. Capuchins have the most dexterous hands of any new world monkey, with functionally (but not fully) opposable thumbs, allowing them to grasp and manipulate objects. Their brains are well-developed and extremely large compared to their body weight; probably because they eat more protein than most other monkeys their size.
Not Just "Monkey-ing" Around
Capuchins are the only monkeys known to hit harder nuts on trees or rocks to crack them open, a form of natural tool use. Captive capuchins have been observed using small branches to remove ants from containers. In addition, these monkeys have complex communication skills involving vocalizations, body movements, teeth-grinding, smells, facial expressions, and touching. They growl, bark, scream, chatter, and whistle, and use the eyebrows, eyes, teeth, and mouth to show submission, aggression, fear, or affiliation. Capuchins groom each other to strengthen social bonds.

Active during the day, crested capuchins spend most of their time in the trees, but may also forage on the ground. Their troops of 5-20 members consist of an older dominant male, many females, other younger males, and offspring. Adults have multiple mates, but the dominant male usually fathers and protects the young. Females breed about every two years, are pregnant for 5-6 months, and produce one infant. These capuchins may live over 40 years in captivity; average lifespan is somewhat shorter in the wild.