The first featured monkey is Curmudgeon, the alpha male of Abby's group in 1990, at the onset of the monkey project.  He was a charismatic leader, and extremely vocal. Because he seemed extraordinarily competent and central to the group's social life, the researchers were surprised when Paul Bunyon, one of the subordinate males, overthrew him in November 1992.  We were shocked that females who had been Curmudgeon's loyal grooming and coalition partners immediately switched allegiance to Paul.  Poor Curmudgeon had morning meltdowns upon observing former mates grooming and forming coalitions with Paul - he produced the most heart-wrenching vocalizations!  He eventually settled into his status and slinked on the group's edge, staying out of Paul's way.

But whenever Paul left the group for an hour or two, Curmudgeon would seize the moment! He vocalized with gusto, bounced up and down as if on a pogo stick, broke entire trees (with monkeys in them) to show strength, whacked cattle till they stampeded, and fluffed up his fur so he looked much larger. It was as if he had to cram several months of alpha male fun into an hour!  When Paul would return home, Curmudgeon would deflate and become a lurker again. Eventually Curmudgeon left the group and lived alone. He clearly missed social life, because he would sneak up on other groups and spy on them. He would sometimes rendezvous with other loner males, sharing a meal at a fig tree and cuddling up for a nap with one of these new friends.  In 1997 he vanished from the area.  We learned so much about the different stages of a male's life cycle by watching Curmudgeon, and he remains a favorite of our scientific team.  

This photo shows Curmudgeon (bottom) and Paul Bunyon (top) forming a coalition with one another against a common enemy during one of their moments of solidarity.  Doesn't Curmudgeon have a wonderful snarl?  His appearance may not fit the human ideal of physical beauty, but he left a large genetic legacy of at least 12 offspring, 48 grandkids, 85 great-grandkids, 75 great-great-grandkids, and 17 great-great-great grandkids!  (Plus probably many more sired by male descendants who have left the study area.) On this back of the T-shirt is a limerick that describes the 'coup' in which Paul overthrew Curmudgeon as leader of the group, highlighting the importance of political strategy in this brainy primate species. This limerick sparked a 33-year tradition in the monkey project of writing poems (mainly limericks) about monkeys as we do 13-hour focal follows of them.  

You can read more about Curmudgeon's life in the book Manipulative Monkeys: The Capuchins of Lomas Barbudal, available on Amazon (Ch 7: Curmudgeon: The Career of an Alpha Male).  For those of you who prefer your monkey gossip in a nerdier format, the sad tale of the coup in which Paul Bunyon overthrew Curmudgeon is also available in the journal Primates:   Perry, S. 1998. A case report of a male rank reversal in a group of wild white-faced  capuchins (Cebus capucinus).  Primates 39(1):51-69. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02557743