10/08/2026
Throwback Thursday – We delivered this spider monkey EED (environmental enrichment device in March 2026 to Brevard Zoo/FIT(Florida Institute of Technology):
We are working with Drs. Kate Talbot & Darby Proctor & their team of students at Florida Tech to study whether spider monkeys at Brevard Zoo will voluntarily share food with their groupmates - even when they get nothing in return. This type of helpful, others-oriented behavior is called prosocial behavior, and scientists are still working to understand why some animals show more of it than others. To study this, we developed a bar-pull apparatus: when one monkey pulls a bar, food is delivered to a nearby groupmate rather than to themselves. By watching which monkeys choose to pull the bar, how often, and who they deliver food to, we can learn about their natural tendencies toward cooperation and prosocial behavior. Spider monkeys live in flexible social groups where individuals come and go, which requires them to maintain strong relationships even when apart. This social challenge may shape how willing they are to help one another. Because we are using the same methodology as published studies on marmosets, capuchins, and macaques, we will be able to directly compare spider monkeys’ behavior to that of other primate species, helping scientists piece together the bigger picture of how and why cooperative and helpful behavior evolved across the animal kingdom.
