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Friederici AD, Wittig RM, Anwander A, Eichner C, Gräßle T, Jäger C, Kirilina E, Lipp I, Düx A, Edwards LJ, Girard-Buttoz C, Jauch A, Kopp KS, Paquette M, Pine KJ, Unwin S, Haun DBM, Leendertz FH, McElreath R, Morawski M, Gunz P, Weiskopf N, Crockford C. Brain structure and function: a multidisciplinary pipeline to study hominoid brain evolution. Front Integr Neurosci 2024; 17:1299087. [PMID: 38260006 PMCID: PMC10800984 DOI: 10.3389/fnint.2023.1299087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
To decipher the evolution of the hominoid brain and its functions, it is essential to conduct comparative studies in primates, including our closest living relatives. However, strong ethical concerns preclude in vivo neuroimaging of great apes. We propose a responsible and multidisciplinary alternative approach that links behavior to brain anatomy in non-human primates from diverse ecological backgrounds. The brains of primates observed in the wild or in captivity are extracted and fixed shortly after natural death, and then studied using advanced MRI neuroimaging and histology to reveal macro- and microstructures. By linking detailed neuroanatomy with observed behavior within and across primate species, our approach provides new perspectives on brain evolution. Combined with endocranial brain imprints extracted from computed tomographic scans of the skulls these data provide a framework for decoding evolutionary changes in hominin fossils. This approach is poised to become a key resource for investigating the evolution and functional differentiation of hominoid brains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela D. Friederici
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Roman M. Wittig
- Evolution of Brain Connectivity Project, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Institute for Cognitive Sciences Marc Jeannerod, UMR CNRS, University Claude Bernard Lyon, Bron, France
- Taï Chimpanzee Project, CSRS, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
| | - Alfred Anwander
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Cornelius Eichner
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Tobias Gräßle
- Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Microorganisms, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany
| | - Carsten Jäger
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- Medical Faculty, Center of Neuropathology and Brain Research, Paul Flechsig Institute, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Evgeniya Kirilina
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Ilona Lipp
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Ariane Düx
- Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Microorganisms, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany
- Helmholtz Institute for One Health, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Luke J. Edwards
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Cédric Girard-Buttoz
- Evolution of Brain Connectivity Project, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Institute for Cognitive Sciences Marc Jeannerod, UMR CNRS, University Claude Bernard Lyon, Bron, France
| | - Anna Jauch
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Kathrin S. Kopp
- Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Michael Paquette
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Kerrin J. Pine
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Steve Unwin
- School of Bioscience, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Daniel B. M. Haun
- Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Fabian H. Leendertz
- Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Microorganisms, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany
- Helmholtz Institute for One Health, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Richard McElreath
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Markus Morawski
- Medical Faculty, Center of Neuropathology and Brain Research, Paul Flechsig Institute, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Philipp Gunz
- Department of Human Origins, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Nikolaus Weiskopf
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- Faculty of Physics and Earth System Sciences, Felix Bloch Institute for Solid State Physics, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Catherine Crockford
- Evolution of Brain Connectivity Project, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Institute for Cognitive Sciences Marc Jeannerod, UMR CNRS, University Claude Bernard Lyon, Bron, France
- Taï Chimpanzee Project, CSRS, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
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Bortolato T, Friederici AD, Girard-Buttoz C, Wittig RM, Crockford C. Chimpanzees show the capacity to communicate about concomitant daily life events. iScience 2023; 26:108090. [PMID: 37876805 PMCID: PMC10590744 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2023] [Revised: 06/03/2023] [Accepted: 09/26/2023] [Indexed: 10/26/2023] Open
Abstract
One universal feature of human language is its versatility in communicating about juxtapositions of everyday events. Versatile combinatorial systems of communication can be selected for if (a) several vocal units are flexibly combined into numerous and long vocal sequences and (b) vocal sequences relate to numerous daily life events. We propose (b) is more likely during simultaneous or serial (concomitant) events than single events. We analyzed 9,391 vocal utterances across the repertoire of wild chimpanzees and their events of production. Chimpanzees used vocal sequences across a range of daily life events and twice as often during concomitant than single events. Also, utterance diversity correlated positively with event diversity. Our results show the potential of chimpanzee vocal sequences to convey combined information about numerous daily life events, a step from which generalized combinatoriality could have evolved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatiana Bortolato
- The Ape Social Mind Lab, Institut des Sciences Cognitives, CNRS UMR 5229, Bron 69500, France
- Department of Human Behaviour, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Taï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Suisse des Recherches Scientifiques, Abidjan 1303, Ivory Coast
| | - Angela D. Friederici
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive Sciences, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Cédric Girard-Buttoz
- The Ape Social Mind Lab, Institut des Sciences Cognitives, CNRS UMR 5229, Bron 69500, France
- Department of Human Behaviour, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Taï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Suisse des Recherches Scientifiques, Abidjan 1303, Ivory Coast
| | - Roman M. Wittig
- The Ape Social Mind Lab, Institut des Sciences Cognitives, CNRS UMR 5229, Bron 69500, France
- Department of Human Behaviour, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Taï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Suisse des Recherches Scientifiques, Abidjan 1303, Ivory Coast
| | - Catherine Crockford
- The Ape Social Mind Lab, Institut des Sciences Cognitives, CNRS UMR 5229, Bron 69500, France
- Department of Human Behaviour, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Taï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Suisse des Recherches Scientifiques, Abidjan 1303, Ivory Coast
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Grampp M, Samuni L, Girard-Buttoz C, León J, Zuberbühler K, Tkaczynski P, Wittig RM, Crockford C. Social uncertainty promotes signal complexity during approaches in wild chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes verus) and mangabeys ( Cercocebus atys atys). ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:231073. [PMID: 38034119 PMCID: PMC10685125 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.231073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 12/02/2023]
Abstract
The social complexity hypothesis for the evolution of communication posits that complex social environments require greater communication complexity for individuals to effectively manage their relationships. We examined how different socially uncertain contexts, reflecting an increased level of social complexity, relate to variation in signalling within and between two species, which display varying levels of fission-fusion dynamics (sympatric-living chimpanzees and sooty mangabeys, Taï National Park, Ivory Coast). Combined signalling may improve message efficacy, notably when involving different perception channels, thus may increase in moments of high social uncertainty. We examined the probability of individuals to emit no signal, single or multisensory or combined (complex) signals, during social approaches which resulted in non-agonistic outcomes. In both species, individuals were more likely to use more combined and multisensory signals in post-conflict approaches with an opponent than in other contexts. The clearest impact of social uncertainty on signalling complexity was observed during chimpanzee fusions, where the likelihood of using complex signals tripled relative to other contexts. Overall, chimpanzees used more multisensory signals than mangabeys. Social uncertainty may shape detected species differences in variation in signalling complexity, thereby supporting the hypothesis that social complexity, particularly associated with high fission-fusion dynamics, promotes signalling complexity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathilde Grampp
- The Ape Social Mind Laboratory, Institut des Sciences Cognitives, CNRS UMR 5229, Bron, France
- Department of Human Behaviour, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Taï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
| | - Liran Samuni
- Taï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
- Cooperative Evolution Laboratory, German Primate Center, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Cédric Girard-Buttoz
- The Ape Social Mind Laboratory, Institut des Sciences Cognitives, CNRS UMR 5229, Bron, France
- Department of Human Behaviour, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Taï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
| | - Julián León
- Taï Monkey Project, Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
- Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchatel, Switzerland
| | - Klaus Zuberbühler
- Taï Monkey Project, Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
- Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchatel, Switzerland
| | - Patrick Tkaczynski
- Taï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
- School of Biological & Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK
| | - Roman M. Wittig
- The Ape Social Mind Laboratory, Institut des Sciences Cognitives, CNRS UMR 5229, Bron, France
- Department of Human Behaviour, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Taï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
| | - Catherine Crockford
- The Ape Social Mind Laboratory, Institut des Sciences Cognitives, CNRS UMR 5229, Bron, France
- Department of Human Behaviour, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Taï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
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Sauciuc GA, Persson T. Empirical challenges from the comparative and developmental literature to the Shared Intentionality Theory - a review of alternative data on recursive mind reading, prosociality, imitation and cumulative culture. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1157137. [PMID: 37901066 PMCID: PMC10613111 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1157137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2023] [Accepted: 09/28/2023] [Indexed: 10/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Humans have an irresistible inclination to coordinate actions with others, leading to species-unique forms of cooperation. According to the highly influential Shared Intentionality Theory (SITh), human cooperation is made possible by shared intentionality (SI), typically defined as a suite of socio-cognitive and motivational traits for sharing psychological states with others, thereby enabling individuals to engage in joint action in the mutually aware pursuit of shared goals. SITh theorises that SI evolved as late as 400,000 years ago, when our ancestors (in particular, Homo heidelbergensis) turned to a kind of food procurement that obligatorily required joint coordinated action. SI is, thus, hypothesized to be absent in other extant species, including our closest genetic relatives, the nonhuman great apes ("apes"). According to SITh, ape psychology is exclusively driven by individualistic motivations, as opposed to human psychology which is uniquely driven by altruistic motivations. The evolutionary scenario proposed by SITh builds on a series of findings from socio-cognitive research with apes and human children, and on the assumption that abilities expressed early in human development are human universals, unlikely to have been shaped by socio-cultural influences. Drawing on the primatological and developmental literature, we provide a systematic - albeit selective - review of SITh-inconsistent findings concerning psychological and behavioural traits theorised to be constitutive of SI. The findings we review pertain to all three thematic clusters typically addressed in SITh: (i) recursive mind reading; (ii) prosociality; (iii) imitation and cumulative culture. We conclude that such alternative data undermine two core SITh claims: the late evolutionary emergence of SI and the radical divide between ape and human psychology. We also discuss several conceptual and methodological limitations that currently hamper reliable comparative research on SI, in particular those engendered by Western-centric biases in the social sciences, where an overreliance on Western samples has promoted the formulation of Western-centric conceptualisations, operationalisations and methodologies.
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Kalan AK, Nakano R, Warshawski L. What we know and don't know about great ape cultural communication in the wild. Am J Primatol 2023:e23560. [PMID: 37828822 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2023] [Revised: 09/15/2023] [Accepted: 10/02/2023] [Indexed: 10/14/2023]
Abstract
Following the first descriptions of culture in primates, widespread agreement has developed that the term can be applied to nonhumans as group-specific, socially learned behaviors. While behaviors such as those involving extractive tool use have been researched intensively, we propose that behaviors that are more subtle, less likely to be ecologically constrained, and more likely to be socially shaped, such as cultural forms of communication, provide compelling evidence of culture in nonhuman primates. Additionally, cultural forms of communication can provide novel insights into animal cognition such as the capacity for conformity, conventionalized meanings, arbitrariness in signal forms, and even symbolism. In this paper we focus on evidence from studies conducted on wild great apes. First, we provide a thorough review of what exactly we do know, and by extension don't know, about great ape cultural communication. We argue that detailed research on both vocal and gestural communication in wild great apes shows a more nuanced and variable repertoire than once assumed, with increasing support for group-specific variation. Second, we discuss the relevance of great ape cultural communication and its potential for illustrating evolutionary continuity for human-like cultural attributes, namely cumulative culture and symbolism. In sum, a concerted effort to examine cultural forms of communication in great apes could reveal novel evidence for cultural capacities that have thus far been heavily debated in the literature and can simultaneously contribute to an improved understanding of the complex minds of our closest living relatives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ammie K Kalan
- Department of Anthropology, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Robyn Nakano
- Department of Anthropology, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Lindsey Warshawski
- Department of Anthropology, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
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Between-group variation in production of pant-grunt vocalizations by wild bonobos (Pan paniscus). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2023. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-022-03285-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Abstract
The potential for aggression is inherent in social interaction, and strategies to reduce the costs of aggression are ubiquitous among group-living animals. One strategy employed by lower-ranking individuals in a variety of species is the production of subordination signals, which are formal signals that communicate the signaler’s inferior status relative to the recipient of the signal. Here, we report the results of our investigations into (1) the presence and usage of the pant-grunt vocalization in two populations of wild bonobos; (2) the relationship between the production of pant-grunts and agonistic predictability across the genus Pan. We find stark differences in production of pant-grunts in the two populations: bonobos at the LuiKotale field site regularly used pant-grunts as a signal of subordination (primarily, though not exclusively, among male-male dyads); in contrast, at the Kokolopori field site, adult bonobos were never observed producing pant-grunts. Across Pan, we find weak support for an association between agonistic predictability and production of pant-grunt vocalizations.
Significance statement
There have been conflicting reports on whether bonobos, like chimpanzees, produce the submissive pant-grunt vocalization. We confirm the presence of the pant-grunt in the bonobo vocal repertoire, and document variation in its production across communities. We also suggest that variation in pant-grunt production across the genus Pan may be explained by the predictability of dominance interactions.
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Bortolato T, Mundry R, Wittig RM, Girard-Buttoz C, Crockford C. Slow development of vocal sequences through ontogeny in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus). Dev Sci 2022:e13350. [PMID: 36440660 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2021] [Revised: 11/04/2022] [Accepted: 11/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The development of the unique, hierarchical, and endless combinatorial capacity in a human language requires neural maturation and learning through childhood. Compared with most non-human primates, where combinatorial capacity seems limited, chimpanzees present a complex vocal system comprising hundreds of vocal sequences. We investigated how such a complex vocal system develops and the processes involved. We recorded 10,929 vocal utterances of 98 wild chimpanzees aged 0-55 years, from Taï National Park, Ivory Coast. We developed customized Generalized non-Linear Models to estimate the ontogenetic trajectory of four structural components of vocal complexity: utterance length, diversity, probability of panting (requiring phonation across inhalation and exhalation), and probability of producing two adjacent panted units. We found chimpanzees need 10 years to reach adult levels of vocal complexity. In three variables, the steepest increase coincided with the age of first non-kin social interactions (2-5 years), and plateaued in sub-adults (8-10 years), as individuals integrate into adult social life. Producing two adjacent panted units may require more neuromuscular coordination of the articulators, as its emergence and steepest increase appear later in development. These results suggest prolonged maturational processes beyond those hitherto thought likely in species that do not learn their vocal repertoire. Our results suggest that multifaceted ontogenetic processes drive increases in vocal structural complexity in chimpanzees, particularly increases in social complexity and neuro-muscular maturation. As humans live in a complex social world, empirical support for the "social complexity hypothesis" may have relevance for theories of language evolution. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Chimpanzees need around 10 years to develop the vocal structural complexity present in the adult repertoire, way beyond the age of emergence of every single vocal unit. Multifaceted ontogenetic processes may drive increases in vocal structural complexity in chimpanzees, particularly increases in social complexity and neuro-muscular maturation. Non-linear increases in vocal complexity coincide with social developmental milestones. Vocal sequences requiring rapid articulatory change emerge later than other vocal sequences, suggesting neuro-muscular maturational processes continue through the juvenile years.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatiana Bortolato
- The Ape Social Mind Lab, Institut des Sciences Cognitives, CNRS, Bron, France.,Department of Human Behaviour, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.,Taï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Swiss des Recherches Scientifiques, Abidjan, Ivory Coast
| | - Roger Mundry
- Cognitive Ethology Laboratory, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Göttingen, Germany.,Department for Primate Cognition, Georg-August-University, Göttingen, Germany.,Leibniz Science Campus Primate Cognition, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Roman M Wittig
- The Ape Social Mind Lab, Institut des Sciences Cognitives, CNRS, Bron, France.,Department of Human Behaviour, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.,Taï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Swiss des Recherches Scientifiques, Abidjan, Ivory Coast
| | - Cédric Girard-Buttoz
- The Ape Social Mind Lab, Institut des Sciences Cognitives, CNRS, Bron, France.,Department of Human Behaviour, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.,Taï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Swiss des Recherches Scientifiques, Abidjan, Ivory Coast
| | - Catherine Crockford
- The Ape Social Mind Lab, Institut des Sciences Cognitives, CNRS, Bron, France.,Department of Human Behaviour, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.,Taï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Swiss des Recherches Scientifiques, Abidjan, Ivory Coast
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