If there ever were a science experiment that combined the power of artistic expression with the traditionally dry task of collecting data, it is the one conceived by Dr. Nicky Clayton and her PhD student, Elias Garcia Pellegrin. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Clayton is a dancer and Pellegrin has a background in performance theater. The scientists wanted to learn if monkeys could be fooled by sleight of hand magic tricks — specifically three species: common marmosets, Humboldt's squirrel monkeys and yellow-breasted capuchin monkeys. The new study is published in the scientific journal Current Biology.
This trick required the scientists to put food in one hand, and present that hand to each individual monkey.
