Monkey Mystery Goes Viral

Lisa Corewyn, associate professor of biology, at right with a student in the field in Costa Rica.

Lisa Corewyn, associate professor of biology, at right with a student in the field in Costa Rica.

Howler infant on the back of a juvenile capuchin carrier, who is using stone tools at an anvil site in a streambed. (Brendan Barrett / Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior)

It's not every day that primate research gets the Stephen Colbert treatment. A recent study co-authored by Lisa Corewyn, associate professor of biology in the School of Humanities and Sciences and howler monkey expert, did just that. It revealed something never before documented in the wild: male capuchin monkeys abducting and carrying around baby howler monkeys for periods up to nine days. The news of the discovery went viral, swinging from science journals to national news and all the way to late-night TV.

Published in the journal Current Biology , the research documents surprising behavior on Panama's Jicarón Island, where young male capuchins were caught on video repeatedly kidnapping howler monkey infants. The behavior, originated by one individual capuchin and then repeated by four others, was unprecedented, and within hours of the study being released, it grabbed global headlines.

The story made waves across CNN, NPR, The New York Times , The Guardian , Smithsonian, NBC, CBS, and dozens of international outlets. Social media exploded with reactions ranging from disbelief to fascination. The story sparked global curiosity and at its core is a remarkable scientific discovery that highlights Ithaca College's role in research with worldwide impact.

"When we talk to students about studying science at IC, this is the kind of example that resonates. Our faculty are doing research that is impactful, that has real-world implications, and that is being talked about across the world."

A male mantled howler monkey, affectionately nicknamed "Orf," and one of Corewyn's favorites. (Photo by Lisa Corewyn)

"This is a powerful example of how behavior isn't just instinct, it's shaped by social context," Corewyn said. "We're seeing how complex social learning can be, even across species lines. That challenges some of our assumptions about what animals are capable of-and why they behave the way they do. And it has important implications to our understanding of how aspects of our behavior like boredom and social trends may have evolved in humans."

Colbert's satirical take aside, the study has been widely and seriously discussed in leading science publications like Science News , Scientific American , Smithsonian Magazine, and New Scientist. At the heart of the research is Corewyn's long-standing commitment to interdisciplinary, field-based work, an approach that exemplifies the kind of faculty scholarship that shapes the student experience at Ithaca College.

"Lisa's work provides an amazing portrait for our students of what research really involves. She and her colleagues have devoted years to the careful, collaborative study of these primates, and they are making discoveries that will reshape what we know about the world," said Claire Gleitman, dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences. "Their findings are sparking questions and curiosity about animal behavior that is reverberating through the scientific community and far beyond it."

"Discoveries like this underscore why fieldwork remains essential, even if it's from camera traps deployed all over an island: You can't predict what you'll find until you're observing it firsthand."

Work with faculty like Lisa Corewyn, who don't just teach from textbooks-they inspire the headlines.

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