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http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627623.200-peaceful-monkeys-chill-out-before-the-feeding-frenzy.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news

Peaceful monkeys chill out before the feeding frenzy 

29 May 2010 

IF YOU think a fight is about to kick off, you might try to calm everyone 
down and defuse the tension. Some monkeys do the same thing.

Tufted capuchin monkeys can anticipate situations that are likely to cause 
fights, and pre-emptively groom each other to prevent them.

Eugenia Polizzi di Sorrentino of Liverpool John Moores University, UK, and 
colleagues studied a group of captive tufted capuchins. They were fed at the 
same time every day, leading to squabbles over the food.

The team found that the monkeys groomed each other much more in the 30 
minutes before feeding time, and that this led to fewer attacks during 
feeding (Animal Behaviour, DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2010.04.008). Subordinate 
monkeys groomed dominants to get permission to feed next to them, and 
dominants groomed subordinates as a signal that they would tolerate them.

Phyllis Lee of the University of Stirling, UK, thinks the findings provide 
evidence that the monkeys can plan for the future. "They're anticipating a 
social stressor and taking action to prevent it," Lee says.

Polizzi di Sorrentino disagrees. The capuchins are anticipating a future 
source of stress, becoming stressed about it in advance, and then grooming 
each other to relieve the tension, she says.