Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Primates https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-019-00738-9 ORIGINAL ARTICLE A green racer snake (Philodryas nattereri, Colubridae) killed but not eaten by a blonde capuchin monkey (Sapajus flavius, Cebidae) Gibran Anderson Oliveira Da Silva 1,2,3  · Tiago Falótico 4,5  · Stephen David Nash 6  · Mônica Mafra Valença‑Montenegro 1,2 Received: 29 December 2018 / Accepted: 26 July 2019 © Japan Monkey Centre and Springer Japan KK, part of Springer Nature 2019 Abstract We report the killing of a snake (Philodryas nattereri, Colubridae) by a blonde capuchin monkey (Sapajus flavius, Cebidae). This endemic primate species from the northeast of Brazil includes vertebrates such as lizards and marsupials in its diet, but we can fnd no previously published record of an attack upon or consumption of snakes by this species of platyrhine monkey. During the attack, the group mobbed the snake, with individuals uttering agonistic vocalizations and displaying behaviors such as raising their tails, moving tree branches, piloerecting, and baring their teeth. An adult male monkey seized the snake, bit and twisted its body, thereby killing it; he then dropped the carcass onto tree branches, but did not consume it. This single event suggests that this Cebidae species may be able to distinguish dangerous from harmless snakes, and it also may be an example of a lethally violent reaction to a potential predator or competitor, exemplifying the plasticity and cognitive skills exhibited by genus Sapajus. Keywords Interspecifc interaction · Competition · Prey · Predation · Snake detection · Sapajus flavius Introduction The blonde capuchin monkey (Sapajus flavius, Shreber 1774) is an endemic species from Brazil rediscovered in 2006, and highly endangered (Ministério do Meio Ambiente 2014). The estimated total population is only about 1000 individuals, living in limited distributions in Brazilian north- eastern Atlantic Forest, and Caatinga regions (Valença-Mon- tenegro et al. 2015; Silva and Valença-Montenegro 2017). Although vertebrates such as lizards (Tropiduridae), mar- supials (Didelphidae), and bird eggs have been documented as part of the blonde capuchin diet (Rodrigues 2013; Rodri- gues et al. 2013; Santos 2013; Lins 2015), there is no record of consumption or attacks upon snakes by this primate spe- cies. However, cebid monkey interactions with snakes have been documented in the literature (Vitale et al. 1990; Boitani et al. 1995; Boinski 1988; Isbell 2006; Meno et al. 2013; Falótico et al. 2018). The green racer snake (Philodryas nattereri, Colubri- dae, Steindachner 1870) is diurnal and mainly terrestrial, although the species can also be found in arboreal situations and even on the roofs of houses in the northeast of Brazil and in arid and semi-arid regions of Colombia and Para- guay (Filho 2015). The green racer feeds mainly on lizards (Scincidae, Gekkonidae, Gymnophthalmidae, Phyllodactyli- dae, Teiidae and Tropiduridae), but mammals (Vespertilio- nidae, Didelphidae, Cricetidae, Echimyidae and Muridae), birds (Emberizidae), frogs (Bufonidae, Hylidae, and Lep- todactylidae), eggs, and even other snakes (Colubridae and * Gibran Anderson Oliveira Da Silva gibranderson@gmail.com Tiago Falótico tfalotico@gmail.com Stephen David Nash stephen.nash@stonybrook.edu Mônica Mafra Valença-Montenegro monica.montenegro@icmbio.gov.br 1 Centro Nacional de Pesquisa e Conservação de Primatas Brasileiros, João Pessoa, Brazil 2 Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade, Brasilia, Brazil 3 University Federal of Paraíba, João Pessoa, Brazil 4 University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil 5 Neotropical Primates Research Group, Recife, Brazil 6 Stony Brook University, New York, USA