Monkey Mystery Goes Viral

By Sloan MacRae, June 4, 2025
Professor Lisa Corewyn’s collaborative research into rare primate behavior captured global attention—and showed how fieldwork from the jungle can shape conversations around the world.
Two scientists study wildlife in the jungle.

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

A male capuchin monkey carries a baby howler monkey on its back.

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.

Camera trap footage shows a baby howler monkey on the back of a capuchin.

Camera trap footage shows a capuchin carrying an infant howler monkey on its back. (Brendan Barrett / Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior)

“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.”

Claire Gleitman, dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences

“This was a major discovery within our field,” said Corewyn, whose research on social behavior and conservation of nonhuman primates spans more than two decades and includes fieldwork in Belize, Costa Rica, and Ecuador, “but I’m not surprised it’s resonated so widely. This kind of behavior is so unexpected, it captures people’s imagination. Why are they doing this? How are they capturing infant monkeys? 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.”

When researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and other international partners began documenting a pattern of unusual behavior on Jicarón Island, they called on Corewyn for her howler monkey expertise. From more than 15 months of footage, camera traps revealed eleven confirmed abductions by capuchins, interactions that showed no clear signs of predation but raised serious questions about primate social behavior.

The behavior may represent a new form of interspecies aggression, or, as the researchers suggest, a kind of socially transmitted “fad” behavior among adolescent male capuchins that may be manifested as boredom in an island environment, where food is plentiful and predators few. That possibility, that these monkeys are learning this conduct from one another and repeating it for apparently no social gain, offers intriguing insights about primate culture, cognition, and the role of the environment in shaping animal behavior.

An male mantled howler monkey in a tree.

A male mantled howler monkey, affectionately nicknamed "Orf," 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.”

Lisa Corewyn, associate professor of biology

Although the study broke just after Commencement and the close of the academic year, it’s already generating excitement and pride across campus. Colleagues are sharing the news, and there’s no doubt it will ripple through classrooms and conversations when students return. Corewyn’s research—both ongoing and long-standing—is a point of pride at IC, and this latest study provides a striking example of how faculty scholarship can capture global attention while staying deeply rooted in the values of inquiry, connection, and impact.

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

Corewyn sees the attention as an opportunity. “If this helps more people think about biodiversity, animal behavior, and conservation in a deeper way, that’s a huge win,” she said. “Science doesn’t always go viral, but when it does, we should use that moment to further spread awareness and keep the conversation going.”

What will YOU discover?

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

Explore opportunities at Ithaca College’s School of Humanities and Sciences.