Abnormal behaviors in nursery-reared squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus)

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Abstract
Seventeen squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus), 11 nursery‐reared and six mother‐reared, were monitored to clarify the type and degree of deviant behaviors that result from rearing this species in the nursery. Two observation periods were used: the first when the subjects averaged 6.7 months of age, the second when they averaged 15.5 months. Thirteen activities involving variations of nonnutritive orality, stereotypic posturing, and agitated behaviors were seen in the nursery‐reared subjects, but never in the mother‐reared subjects. No consistent gender, subspecies, or age differences were evident. Squirrel monkeys, like chimpanzees and some Old World monkeys, do develop atypical self‐directed behaviors when deprived of normal stimulation during early development.