Do capuchin monkeys (Sapajus apella) prefer symmetrical face shapes?

Paukner, A. ORCID: 0000-0002-3421-1864, Wooddell, L.J., Lefevre, C.E., Lonsdorf, E. and Lonsdorf, E., 2017. Do capuchin monkeys (Sapajus apella) prefer symmetrical face shapes? Journal of Comparative Psychology, 131 (1), pp. 73-77. ISSN 0735-7036

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Abstract

In humans, facial symmetry has been linked to an individual’s genetic quality, and facial symmetry has a small yet significant effect on ratings of facial attractiveness. The same evolutionary processes underlying these phenomena may also convey a selective advantage to symmetrical individuals of other primate species, yet to date, few studies have examined sensitivity to facial symmetry in non-human primates. Here we presented images of symmetrical and asymmetrical human and monkey faces to tufted capuchin monkeys (Sapajus apella), and hypothesized that capuchins would visually prefer symmetrical faces of opposite sex conspecifics. Instead, we found that male capuchins preferentially attended to symmetrical male conspecific faces whereas female capuchins did not appear to discriminate between symmetrical and asymmetrical faces. These results suggest that male capuchin monkeys may use facial symmetry to judge male quality in intra-male competition.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Journal of Comparative Psychology
Creators:	Paukner, A., Wooddell, L.J., Lefevre, C.E., Lonsdorf, E. and Lonsdorf, E.
Publisher:	American Psychological Association
Date:	1 February 2017
Volume:	131
Number:	1
ISSN:	0735-7036
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1037/com0000052 DOI 2017-05122-008 Other
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	31 Jan 2019 16:57
Last Modified:	31 Jan 2019 16:57
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/35742

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