When I arrive at the Zoo in the morning I am often serenaded by our gibbons at the Zoo. Have you ever heard a gibbon sing? They have amazing pitch and range! This morning I could have sworn they incorporated notes from The Monkee’s song, I’m a believer. I deduced that this was a tribute to Davy Jones, lead singer of ’60s pop band The Monkees, who sadly passed away recently. Let me be clear, gibbons are apes not monkeys, but I think they too have a great appreciation for 60’s pop.
Being fellow monkeys, I am sure our troop of Cotton-top tamarins are mourning in there own special way. Their voices are a bit higher so their tribute selection is more likely something like Daydream Believer, but make no mistake their chirps and tweets can invoke plenty of emotion. A wonderful Cotton-top tamarin conservation project in Colombia called Proyecto Tití have done a lot of research on the Cotton-top tamarin’s vocalizations, they have found that this species uses 38 distinctly different sounds.
Knowing those Cotton-tops they have probably added a few jazzy dance steps as well. They have such amazing 60’s pop hair! Small monkey species can be very difficult to keep track of, so Proyecto Tití researchers have discovered that dying those flowing white locks on the tops of their head makes it exceedingly easier to identify wild individuals as they bounce around in the forest canopy. This technique has enabled researchers to collect valuable data on this endangered little monkey.
In conclusion, I am quite sure that monkeys everywhere would agree that Davy Jones will live on through his Monkee music.
