A TEAM of researchers led by the University of St Andrews have made a major monkey-related breakthrough.

Scientists now know that young golden lion tamarins, an endangered species of monkey native to south-east Brazil, learn through unique parental calls.

The study, published in the International Journal of Primatology and led by scientists from the university’s School of Biology, discovered that the animals learn where to forage for prey through food-offering calls.

Wild groups of tamarins, of which there are around 490 in captivity, were recorded foraging for food in the undergrowth.

Some groups foraged while food offering calls were played back to them, and other groups foraged without the calls.

Scientists established that the group foraging with the calls learned a unique way to find food in the undergrowth.

Six months later, the tamarins, now independent from their parents, were assessed to identify any long-term effects. The study reported that eating behaviour varied between the two groups.

Lead academic Dr Camille Troisi, from the Centre for Social Learning & Cognitive Evolution at the university, commented: “Using a vocal playback paradigm, we found that food-offering calls had both short and long-term effects on the juveniles’ behaviour.”

The findings are significant because they support hypotheses that teaching is more likely to develop in species where offspring are raised by their parents and additional group members.