'I'll Have What You're Having,' Said the Monkey; Primates Savvy at Picking Up Dietary and Social Cues

Wild vervet monkeys may be many things, but they are certainly not hipsters.

In a recent study, a cadre of scientists investigated the primates' dietary habits, only to find that infants gravitate towards their parents' food item of choice, while adult monkeys aligned their tastes with new delicacies when exposed to a group with different preferences. Cultural diffusion, it seems, is not unique to humanity.

In the experiment, the team provided four groups of vervet monkeys with the option to eat blue or pink-colored corn. In two of the groups, the pink food was soaked in bitter aloe leaves; meanwhile, the blue was treated the same way for the other two. According to the New York Times, although the monkeys mostly ignored the aloe treated color in their own group, they began consuming the corn that they previously negatively associated to bitterness once exposed to a group that gravitated towards it. The researchers note that only one exception was observed, and dismissed the intelligence of the rogue primate, and identified him as an anomaly.  

University of Zurich evolutionary anthropologist Carel van Schaik told the Times, "Imagine you've just learned to eat pink corn and for a while blue corn was really bad, but then you move to an area where it's the opposite and basically wipe your slate clean. You think, "Oh, these locals, they must know what's the best thing.'"

Notably, the scientists stopped treating the corn after a few months. However, by that time, the vervet monkeys had been conditioned to avoid either pink or blue corn, depending on their group.

Study co-author Professor Whitten of the University of St. Andrews explains: "As the saying goes: 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do." Our findings suggest that a willingness to conform to what all those around you are doing when you visit a different culture is a disposition shared with other primates."