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Borg JM, Buskell A, Kapitany R, Powers ST, Reindl E, Tennie C. Evolved Open-Endedness in Cultural Evolution: A New Dimension in Open-Ended Evolution Research. ARTIFICIAL LIFE 2024; 30:417-438. [PMID: 37253238 DOI: 10.1162/artl_a_00406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
The goal of Artificial Life research, as articulated by Chris Langton, is "to contribute to theoretical biology by locating life-as-we-know-it within the larger picture of life-as-it-could-be." The study and pursuit of open-ended evolution in artificial evolutionary systems exemplify this goal. However, open-ended evolution research is hampered by two fundamental issues: the struggle to replicate open-endedness in an artificial evolutionary system and our assumption that we only have one system (genetic evolution) from which to draw inspiration. We argue not only that cultural evolution should be seen as another real-world example of an open-ended evolutionary system but that the unique qualities seen in cultural evolution provide us with a new perspective from which we can assess the fundamental properties of, and ask new questions about, open-ended evolutionary systems, especially with regard to evolved open-endedness and transitions from bounded to unbounded evolution. Here we provide an overview of culture as an evolutionary system, highlight the interesting case of human cultural evolution as an open-ended evolutionary system, and contextualize cultural evolution by developing a new framework of (evolved) open-ended evolution. We go on to provide a set of new questions that can be asked once we consider cultural evolution within the framework of open-ended evolution and introduce new insights that we may be able to gain about evolved open-endedness as a result of asking these questions.
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Affiliation(s)
- James M Borg
- Aston University School of Informatics and Digital Engineering.
| | | | - Rohan Kapitany
- Keele University School of Psychology University of Oxford School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography
| | | | - Eva Reindl
- Durham University Department of Anthropology University of St. Andrews School of Psychology and Neuroscience
| | - Claudio Tennie
- University of Tübingen Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology
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2
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Westra E, Fitzpatrick S, Brosnan SF, Gruber T, Hobaiter C, Hopper LM, Kelly D, Krupenye C, Luncz LV, Theriault J, Andrews K. In search of animal normativity: a framework for studying social norms in non-human animals. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2024; 99:1058-1074. [PMID: 38268182 PMCID: PMC11078603 DOI: 10.1111/brv.13056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2023] [Revised: 01/13/2024] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 01/26/2024]
Abstract
Social norms - rules governing which behaviours are deemed appropriate or inappropriate within a given community - are typically taken to be uniquely human. Recently, this position has been challenged by a number of philosophers, cognitive scientists, and ethologists, who have suggested that social norms may also be found in certain non-human animal communities. Such claims have elicited considerable scepticism from norm cognition researchers, who doubt that any non-human animals possess the psychological capacities necessary for normative cognition. However, there is little agreement among these researchers about what these psychological prerequisites are. This makes empirical study of animal social norms difficult, since it is not clear what we are looking for and thus what should count as behavioural evidence for the presence (or absence) of social norms in animals. To break this impasse, we offer an approach that moves beyond contested psychological criteria for social norms. This approach is inspired by the animal culture research program, which has made a similar shift away from heavily psychological definitions of 'culture' to become organised around a cluster of more empirically tractable concepts of culture. Here, we propose an analogous set of constructs built around the core notion of a normative regularity, which we define as a socially maintained pattern of behavioural conformity within a community. We suggest methods for studying potential normative regularities in wild and captive primates. We also discuss the broader scientific and philosophical implications of this research program with respect to questions of human uniqueness, animal welfare and conservation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evan Westra
- Department of Philosophy, Purdue University, 100 N. University Street, West Lafayette, IN, 47905, USA
| | - Simon Fitzpatrick
- Department of Philosophy, John Carroll University, 1 John Carroll Boulevard, University Heights, Ohio 44118, USA
| | - Sarah F. Brosnan
- Departments of Psychology & Philosophy, Neuroscience Institute, Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, and the Language Research Center, Georgia State University, Georgia State University, Dept of Psychology, PO Box 5010, Atlanta, GA 30302-5010 USA
| | - Thibaud Gruber
- Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, and Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, Campus Biotech - University of Geneva, Chemin des Mines 9, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Catherine Hobaiter
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Mary’s Quad, South St, Fife KY16 9JP, Scotland
| | - Lydia M. Hopper
- Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 720 Rutland Ave, Baltimore, Maryland, 21205, USA
| | - Daniel Kelly
- Department of Philosophy, Purdue University, 100 N. University Street, West Lafayette, IN, 47905, USA
| | - Christopher Krupenye
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles St, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
| | - Lydia V. Luncz
- Technological Primates Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jordan Theriault
- Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Suite 2301, 149 Thirteenth Street, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
| | - Kristin Andrews
- Department of Philosophy, York University, S448 Ross Building, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada
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van Leeuwen EJC, DeTroy SE, Haun DBM, Call J. Chimpanzees use social information to acquire a skill they fail to innovate. Nat Hum Behav 2024; 8:891-902. [PMID: 38448718 PMCID: PMC11132989 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-024-01836-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2023] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024]
Abstract
Cumulative cultural evolution has been claimed to be a uniquely human phenomenon pivotal to the biological success of our species. One plausible condition for cumulative cultural evolution to emerge is individuals' ability to use social learning to acquire know-how that they cannot easily innovate by themselves. It has been suggested that chimpanzees may be capable of such know-how social learning, but this assertion remains largely untested. Here we show that chimpanzees use social learning to acquire a skill that they failed to independently innovate. By teaching chimpanzees how to solve a sequential task (one chimpanzee in each of the two tested groups, n = 66) and using network-based diffusion analysis, we found that 14 naive chimpanzees learned to operate a puzzle box that they failed to operate during the preceding three months of exposure to all necessary materials. In conjunction, we present evidence for the hypothesis that social learning in chimpanzees is necessary and sufficient to acquire a new, complex skill after the initial innovation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edwin J C van Leeuwen
- Animal Behaviour and Cognition, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
- Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
- Centre for Research and Conservation, Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
| | - Sarah E DeTroy
- Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Daniel B M Haun
- Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Josep Call
- School of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
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4
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Mitani JC, Abwe E, Campbell G, Giles-Vernick T, Goldberg T, McLennan MR, Preuschoft S, Supriatna J, Marshall AJ. Future coexistence with great apes will require major changes to policy and practice. Nat Hum Behav 2024; 8:632-643. [PMID: 38374442 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-024-01830-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2023] [Accepted: 12/21/2023] [Indexed: 02/21/2024]
Abstract
The great apes-bonobos, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans-are critically threatened by human activities. We have destroyed their habitats, hunted them and transmitted fatal diseases to them. Yet we also conduct research on them, try to protect them and live alongside them. They are endangered, and time is running out. Here we outline what must be done to ensure that future generations continue to share this planet with great apes. We urge dialogue with those who live with great apes and interact with them often. We advocate conservation plans that acknowledge the realities of climate change, economic drivers and population growth. We encourage researchers to use technology to minimize risks to great apes. Our proposals will require substantial investment, and we identify ways to generate these funds. We conclude with a discussion of how field researchers might alter their work to protect our closest living relatives more effectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- John C Mitani
- Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
- Ngogo Chimpanzee Project, Phoenix, AZ, USA.
| | - Ekwoge Abwe
- San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Escondido, CA, USA
- Cameroon Biodiversity Association, Douala, Cameroon
| | | | - Tamara Giles-Vernick
- Anthropology and Ecology of Disease Emergence Unit, Institut Pasteur/Université Paris Cité, Paris, France
| | - Tony Goldberg
- Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Matthew R McLennan
- Bulindi Chimpanzee and Community Project, Hoima, Uganda
- Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK
| | | | - Jatna Supriatna
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Sciences, University of Indonesia, Depok, West Java, Indonesia
| | - Andrew J Marshall
- Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Program in the Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Program in Computing for the Arts and Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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5
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Falótico T, Valença T, Verderane MP, Santana BC, Sirianni G. Mapping nut-cracking in a new population of wild capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) at Ubajara National Park, Brazil. Am J Primatol 2024; 86:e23595. [PMID: 38224002 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2023] [Revised: 12/03/2023] [Accepted: 12/27/2023] [Indexed: 01/16/2024]
Abstract
Populations of bearded capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) vary in their tool use behaviors, with some of this divergence regarded as culturally determined. The use of stone tools, primarily to crack open encased foods, is widespread among bearded capuchins living in dry habitats (Caatinga and Cerrado). Significant diversity in targets, processed foods, material, and size of tools is observed across populations. However, so far, only a few sites have been systematically studied, and we are still distant from a representative picture of the range of variation in capuchins' culture. In this study, we did a systematic assessment of stone tool use sites in the Ubajara National Park (UNP), in the Caatinga region of Ceará, Brazil, recording and measuring stone tools, processed foods, and available lithic resources as part of an extensive comparative research, the CapCult project. We found indirect and direct evidence that capuchin monkeys at UNP customarily use hammerstones and anvils to process at least two species of palm nuts, macauba (Acrocomia aculeata) and the harder babaçu (Attalea speciosa). Most of the anvils were rock surfaces and had leftovers of only one palm nut species. The hammerstones used to process both palm nuts were not significantly different in weight, although the ones used for Ac. aculeata were longer. We found a higher frequency of nut-cracking sites in the drier lowland area of the park, reflecting differences in the density of the most common palm species, Ac. aculeata, and availability of raw stone material. The stone tool use observed in UNP is within the scope of previously reported in savannah capuchin populations. Our study widens the knowledge of stone tool-use diversity in wild capuchin monkeys, which could contribute to shaping conservation policy, including cultural traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiago Falótico
- School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
- Capcult Project, Neotropical Primates Research Group, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
- Technological Primates Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Tatiane Valença
- School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
- Capcult Project, Neotropical Primates Research Group, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
- Institute of Psychology, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Michele P Verderane
- Capcult Project, Neotropical Primates Research Group, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Beatriz C Santana
- School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Giulia Sirianni
- Department of Ancient World Studies, University of Rome "La Sapienza", Rome, Italy
- Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council (ISTC, CNR), Rome, Italy
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6
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Pascual-Garrido A, Carvalho S, Almeida-Warren K. Primate archaeology 3.0. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2024; 183:e24835. [PMID: 37671610 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24835] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2023] [Revised: 07/25/2023] [Accepted: 08/03/2023] [Indexed: 09/07/2023]
Abstract
The new field of primate archaeology investigates the technological behavior and material record of nonhuman primates, providing valuable comparative data on our understanding of human technological evolution. Yet, paralleling hominin archaeology, the field is largely biased toward the analysis of lithic artifacts. While valuable comparative data have been gained through an examination of extant nonhuman primate tool use and its archaeological record, focusing on this one single aspect provides limited insights. It is therefore necessary to explore to what extent other non-technological activities, such as non-tool aided feeding, traveling, social behaviors or ritual displays, leave traces that could be detected in the archaeological record. Here we propose four new areas of investigation which we believe have been largely overlooked by primate archaeology and that are crucial to uncovering the full archaeological potential of the primate behavioral repertoire, including that of our own: (1) Plant technology; (2) Archaeology beyond technology; (3) Landscape archaeology; and (4) Primate cultural heritage. We discuss each theme in the context of the latest developments and challenges, as well as propose future directions. Developing a more "inclusive" primate archaeology will not only benefit the study of primate evolution in its own right but will aid conservation efforts by increasing our understanding of changes in primate-environment interactions over time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alejandra Pascual-Garrido
- Primate Models for Behavioural Evolution Lab, Institute of Human Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Susana Carvalho
- Primate Models for Behavioural Evolution Lab, Institute of Human Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Interdisciplinary Centre for Archaeology and the Evolution of Human Behaviour, University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal
- Gorongosa National Park, Sofala, Mozambique
| | - Katarina Almeida-Warren
- Primate Models for Behavioural Evolution Lab, Institute of Human Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Interdisciplinary Centre for Archaeology and the Evolution of Human Behaviour, University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal
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7
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Mörchen J, Luhn F, Wassmer O, Kunz JA, Kulik L, van Noordwijk MA, Rianti P, Rahmaeti T, Utami Atmoko SS, Widdig A, Schuppli C. Orangutan males make increased use of social learning opportunities, when resource availability is high. iScience 2024; 27:108940. [PMID: 38333693 PMCID: PMC10850741 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.108940] [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: 10/10/2023] [Revised: 12/05/2023] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 02/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Humans' colonization of diverse habitats relied on our ancestors' abilities to innovate and share innovations with others. While ecological impacts on innovations are well studied, their effect on social learning remains poorly understood. We examined how food availability affects social learning in migrant orangutan unflanged males, who may learn from local orangutans through peering (i.e., observational social learning). We analyzed 1,384 dyadic associations, including 360 peering events, among 46 wild Sumatran orangutan and 25 Bornean orangutan males, collected over 18 years. Migrants' peering rates significantly increased with higher food availability and time spent in proximity to others. Furthermore, migrants in the more sociable Sumatran population exhibited significantly higher peering rates compared to the Borneans, suggesting intrinsic and/or developmental effects of food availability on social learning. These findings emphasize the importance of investigating ecological effects on social learning on the immediate, developmental, and intrinsic levels for our understanding of cultural evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Mörchen
- Development and Evolution of Cognition Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, 78467 Konstanz, Germany
- Behavioral Ecology Research Group, Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Primate Behaviour and Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Frances Luhn
- Behavioral Ecology Research Group, Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Olivia Wassmer
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Julia A. Kunz
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology of Montpellier (ISEM), University of Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, 34095 Montpellier, France
| | - Lars Kulik
- Behavioral Ecology Research Group, Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Maria A. van Noordwijk
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
- Comparative Socioecology, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, 78467 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Puji Rianti
- Primate Research Center, Institute of Research and Community Service, IPB University, Bogor 16680, Indonesia
- Animal Biosystematics and Ecology Division, Department of Biology, IPB University, Bogor 16680, Indonesia
| | - Tri Rahmaeti
- Department of Biology, Graduate Program, Faculty of Biology and Agriculture, Universitas Nasional, Jakarta 12520, Indonesia
| | - Sri Suci Utami Atmoko
- Department of Biology, Graduate Program, Faculty of Biology and Agriculture, Universitas Nasional, Jakarta 12520, Indonesia
| | - Anja Widdig
- Behavioral Ecology Research Group, Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Primate Behaviour and Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Halle-Jena-Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Caroline Schuppli
- Development and Evolution of Cognition Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, 78467 Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
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8
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Kerjean E, van de Waal E, Canteloup C. Social dynamics of vervet monkeys are dependent upon group identity. iScience 2024; 27:108591. [PMID: 38299029 PMCID: PMC10829874 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108591] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2023] [Revised: 09/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 02/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Traditions are widespread across the animal realm. Here, we investigated inter-group variability of social dynamics in wild vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus). We analyzed 84,704 social interactions involving 247 individuals collected over nine years in three neighboring groups of wild vervet monkeys. We found that in one group - Ankhase - individuals had a higher propensity to be affiliative (i.e., sociality) and grooming interactions were more reciprocal. Despite yearly fluctuations in sociality, differences between groups remained stable over time. Moreover, our statistical model predictions confirmed that these findings were maintained for similar sex ratios, age distributions, and group sizes. Strikingly, our results suggested that dispersing males adapted their sociality to the sociality of the group they integrated with. As a whole, our study sheds light on the existence of stable social dynamics dependent upon group identity in wild vervet monkeys and suggests that at least part of this variability is socially mediated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Kerjean
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland
- Research Center on Animal Cognition, Center of Integrative Biology, University of Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
| | - Erica van de Waal
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland
- Inkawu Vervet Project, Mawana Game Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
- Center for Functional Biodiversity, School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
- The Sense Innovation and Research Center, Lausanne and Sion, Vaud, Switzerland
| | - Charlotte Canteloup
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland
- Inkawu Vervet Project, Mawana Game Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
- Center for Functional Biodiversity, School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
- The Sense Innovation and Research Center, Lausanne and Sion, Vaud, Switzerland
- Laboratory of Cognitive & Adaptive Neurosciences, CNRS - UMR 7364, University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
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9
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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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10
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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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11
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Auger C, Cipolletta C, Todd A, Fuh T, Sotto-Mayor A, Pouydebat E, Masi S. Feeling a bit peckish: Seasonal and opportunistic insectivory for wild gorillas. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2023; 182:210-223. [PMID: 37483018 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24811] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2023] [Revised: 06/04/2023] [Accepted: 06/24/2023] [Indexed: 07/25/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Insectivory likely contributed to survival of early humans in diverse conditions and influenced human cognitive evolution through the need to develop harvesting tools. In living primates, insectivory is a widespread behavior and frequently seasonal, although previous studies do not always agree on reasons behind this. Since western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) diet is largely affected by seasonal variation in fruit availability, we aimed to test three non-mutually exclusive hypotheses (habitat use, frugivory and rainfall) to explain seasonality in termite feeding across age/sex classes in three habituated groups (Nindividuals = 27) in Central Africa. MATERIALS AND METHODS We used 4 years of ranging, scan and continuous focal sampling records of gorillas (Nranging days = 883, Nscans = 12,384; Nhours = 891) in addition to 116 transects recording vegetation and termite mound distribution. RESULTS Depending on the age/sex classes, we found support for all three hypotheses. Time spent in termite-rich vegetation positively impacted termite consumption in all age/sex classes, but subadults. Lengthier travels increased termite feeding in females but decreased it in subadults. Frugivory decreased termite consumption in adults. Daily rainfall had a positive effect on termite feeding and foraging in silverbacks and juveniles, but a negative effect in subadults. For females, rainfall had a positive effect on termite feeding, but a negative effect for termite foraging. DISCUSSION In great apes, seasonal insectivory seems to be multifactorial and primarily opportunistic with important differences among age/sex classes. While insectivory has potentials to be traditional, it likely played a crucial role during primate evolution (including ours), allowing diet flexibility in changing environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claire Auger
- Éco-Anthropologie, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique: UMR7206, Paris, France
- Mécanismes Adaptatifs et Evolution, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique: UMR7179, Paris, France
| | - Chloé Cipolletta
- Dzanga-Sangha Protected Areas, World Wide Fund for Nature, Bangui, Central African Republic
| | - Angelique Todd
- Dzanga-Sangha Protected Areas, World Wide Fund for Nature, Bangui, Central African Republic
| | - Terence Fuh
- Dzanga-Sangha Protected Areas, World Wide Fund for Nature, Bangui, Central African Republic
| | - Andrea Sotto-Mayor
- Éco-Anthropologie, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique: UMR7206, Paris, France
| | - Emmanuelle Pouydebat
- Mécanismes Adaptatifs et Evolution, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique: UMR7179, Paris, France
| | - Shelly Masi
- Éco-Anthropologie, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique: UMR7206, Paris, France
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12
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Heinsohn R, Zdenek CN, Appleby D, Endler JA. Individual preferences for sound tool design in a parrot. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20231271. [PMID: 37700644 PMCID: PMC10498050 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2023] [Accepted: 07/27/2023] [Indexed: 09/14/2023] Open
Abstract
The rarity of tool manufacture in wild parrots is surprising because they share key life-history traits with advanced tool-using species, including large brains, complex sociality and prolonged parental care. When it does occur, tool manufacture in parrots tends to be innovative, spontaneous and individually variable, but most cases have been in captivity. In the wild, only palm cockatoos (Probosciger aterrimus) have been observed using tools regularly. However, they are unusual because they use tools to enhance their displays rather than for foraging or self-maintenance. Males in northern Australia make two types of tool from sticks and seed pods, which they tap rhythmically against a tree during display. We analysed 256 sound tools retrieved from 70 display trees. Drumsticks (89% of tools) were used more often than seed pod tools; most males manufactured only drumsticks, but some made both types. Individual males differed significantly in the design of their drumsticks including the length, width and mass but we found no evidence that neighbours copied each other. We discuss the highly individualized preferences for sound tool design in context of the behavioural predispositions behind the rarity of tool manufacture in wild parrots.
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Affiliation(s)
- R. Heinsohn
- Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, Acton, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - C. N. Zdenek
- School of Biological Science, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - D. Appleby
- Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, Acton, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - J. A. Endler
- Zoology and Ecology, Tropical Environments Sciences, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland 4878, Australia
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13
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Schuppli C, Nellissen L, Carvajal L, Ashbury AM, Oliver-Caldwell N, Rahmaeti T, Laumer I, Haun D. Ecological, social, and intrinsic factors affecting wild orangutans' curiosity, assessed using a field experiment. Sci Rep 2023; 13:13184. [PMID: 37580333 PMCID: PMC10425418 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-39214-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2022] [Accepted: 07/21/2023] [Indexed: 08/16/2023] Open
Abstract
The readiness to interact with and explore novel stimuli-i.e., curiosity-is the cornerstone of innovation. Great apes show broad and complex innovation repertoires. However, little is known about the factors that affect curiosity in wild apes. To shed light on wild apes' curiosity, we measured the reactions of wild Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii) to an experiment apparatus. Overall, individuals were reluctant to touch the apparatus. However, compared to adults, immatures showed higher tendencies to explore (measured through looking durations and the probability of touching the apparatus) and to approach (measured through approach latencies and approach distances) the apparatus but were more likely to show behavioral signs of agitation. The presence of conspecifics who approached the apparatus increased visual exploration and approach tendencies. Prevailing habitat food availability positively affected visual exploration but had a negative effect on approach tendencies. These findings indicate that intrinsic, social, and ecological factors affect reactions to novelty in wild orangutans and suggest that exploration, neophobia and neophilia are independently regulated. Because reactions to novelty can be an essential pathway to innovation, our results suggest that factors acting on different elements of curiosity must be considered to understand the evolution of innovative tendencies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline Schuppli
- Development and Evolution of Cognition Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Bücklestrasse 5, 78467, Konstanz, Germany.
- Leipzig Research Center for Early Child Development, Leipzig University, Jahnallee 59, 04109, Leipzig, Germany.
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zürich, Switzerland.
| | - Lara Nellissen
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zürich, Switzerland
- Department of Éco-Anthropologie et Ethnobiologie, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CP 135, Rue Cuvier, 75 231, Paris Cedex 5, France
- Institute of Biology, Department of Comparative Cognition, University of Neuchâtel, Rue Emile-Argand 11, 2000, Neuchatel, Switzerland
| | - Luz Carvajal
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zürich, Switzerland
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA
| | - Alison M Ashbury
- Department for the Ecology of Animal Societies, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Bücklestrasse 5, 78467, Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstrasse 10, 78457, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Natalie Oliver-Caldwell
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Tri Rahmaeti
- Development and Evolution of Cognition Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Bücklestrasse 5, 78467, Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Biology, Graduate School, Universitas Nasional, Jalan Sawo Manila, RT.14/RW.3, Jakarta, 12550, Indonesia
| | - Isabelle Laumer
- Development and Evolution of Cognition Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Bücklestrasse 5, 78467, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Daniel Haun
- Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
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14
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Arseneau-Robar TJM, Anderson KA, Sicotte P, Teichroeb JA. Monkeys who experience more feeding competition utilize social information to learn foraging skills faster. Sci Rep 2023; 13:11624. [PMID: 37468534 PMCID: PMC10356951 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-37536-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2023] [Accepted: 06/23/2023] [Indexed: 07/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Animals must learn foraging skills to successfully survive and reproduce but the sources of interindividual variation in learning are poorly understood. For example, there is little consensus on the role motivation plays, even though it is a key factor impacting learning outcomes in humans. Here, we conduct a field experiment on a wild primate to investigate whether an individual's vulnerability to feeding competition impacts their motivation to learn a beneficial foraging technique. We provided a group of monkeys with a food reward (i.e., a half banana) that needed to be retrieved from a box. The monkeys discovered an efficient technique that consistently allowed them to retrieve the banana quickly, decreasing the risk of food loss to competitors. We found that individuals who frequently experienced feeding competition learned this efficient technique significantly faster than individuals who rarely foraged in the presence of a dominant competitor. They appeared to use social learning to learn faster as they were more attentive to the handling techniques others used and improved their foraging skills after opportunities to observe a skilled demonstrator. These findings support that an individual's vulnerability to feeding competition impacts their motivation to learn foraging skills that reduce food loss to competitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- T Jean M Arseneau-Robar
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Department of Biology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
| | - Karyn A Anderson
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Pascale Sicotte
- Department of Biology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Julie A Teichroeb
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
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15
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Varallyay A, Beller N, Subiaul F. Generative cultural learning in children and adults: the role of compositionality and generativity in cultural evolution. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20222418. [PMID: 37122258 PMCID: PMC10130722 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.2418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2022] [Accepted: 03/22/2023] [Indexed: 05/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Are human cultures distinctively cumulative because they are uniquely compositional? We addressed this question using a summative learning paradigm where participants saw different models build different tower elements, consisting of discrete actions and objects: stacking cubes (tower base) and linking squares (tower apex). These elements could be combined to form a tower that was optimal in terms of height and structural soundness. In addition to measuring copying fidelity, we explored whether children and adults (i) extended the knowledge demonstrated to additional tower elements and (ii) productively combined them. Results showed that children and adults copied observed demonstrations and applied them to novel exemplars. However, only adults in the imitation condition combined the two newly derived base and apex, relative to adults in a control group. Nonetheless, there were remarkable similarities between children's and adults' performance across measures. Composite measures capturing errors and overall generativity in children's and adults' performance produced few population by condition interactions. Results suggest that early in development, humans possess a suite of cognitive skills-compositionality and generativity-that transforms phylogenetically widespread social learning competencies into something that may be unique to our species, cultural learning; allowing human cultures to evolve towards greater complexity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrian Varallyay
- The Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy, Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Nathalia Beller
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Francys Subiaul
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
- Department of Anthropology, Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
- Mind-Brain Institute, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
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16
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What animal cultures may beget: Comment on "Blind alleys and fruitful pathways in the comparative study of cultural cognition" by Andrew Whiten. Phys Life Rev 2023; 44:99-101. [PMID: 36586308 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2022.12.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2022] [Accepted: 12/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
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17
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Robbins MM. Reflections on connections. Primates 2023; 64:191-197. [PMID: 36867278 PMCID: PMC9982802 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-023-01059-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2023] [Accepted: 02/18/2023] [Indexed: 03/04/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Martha M Robbins
- Department of Primate Behavior and Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leizpig, Germany.
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18
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van Leeuwen EJ, Hoppitt W. Biased cultural transmission of a social custom in chimpanzees. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eade5675. [PMID: 36791187 PMCID: PMC9931211 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ade5675] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2022] [Accepted: 01/10/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Cultural transmission studies in animals have predominantly focused on identifying between-group variation in tool-use techniques, while immaterial cultures remain understudied despite their potential for highlighting similarities between human and animal culture. Here, using long-term data from two chimpanzee communities, we tested whether one of chimpanzees' most enigmatic social customs-the grooming handclasp-is culturally transmitted by investigating the influence of well-documented human transmission biases on their variational preferences. After identifying differences in style preferences between the communities, we show that older and dominant individuals exert more influence over their partners' handclasp styles. Mothers were equally likely to influence their offspring's preferences as nonkin, indicating that styles are transmitted both vertically and obliquely. Last, individuals gradually converged on the group style, suggesting that conformity guides chimpanzees' handclasp preferences. Our findings show that chimpanzees' social lives are influenced by cultural transmission biases that hitherto were thought to be uniquely human.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edwin J. C. van Leeuwen
- Animal Behaviour and Cognition, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
- Centre for Research and Conservation, Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, K. Astridplein 26, B 2018 Antwerp, Belgium
- Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - William Hoppitt
- Department of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK
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19
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Pal A, Mahato S, Leca JB, Sinha A. Blowing the lid off! Bottle-directed, extractive foraging strategies in synurbic bonnet macaques Macaca radiata in southern India. Front Psychol 2023; 13:973566. [PMID: 36755978 PMCID: PMC9900441 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.973566] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2022] [Accepted: 11/18/2022] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Nonhuman individuals and groups, living in anthropogenic landscapes, often adopt adaptive foraging strategies, mediated by their day-to-day interactions with humans and their artefacts. Exploring such novel behavioral manifestations, especially in the Anthropocene, offers us insights into behavioral innovations and their transmission in such rapidly changing ecologies. In this study, employing field experiments, we investigated an example of human-induced, extractive foraging behavior - the extraction of liquid contents from plastic bottles - in a synurbic bonnet macaque Macaca radiata population. The main aims of the study were to examine the distribution, diversity, inter-individual variability and intra-individual flexibility of bottle-directed manipulative behaviors, and to explore the social and environmental factors driving this behavioral practice. We video-recorded the manipulation of partially filled plastic bottles and the extraction of liquid across four groups of bonnet macaques in southern India. Two socio-demographic factors - age class and group membership - and one environmental factor - food provisioning - were identified as major determinants of inter-individual variation in the performance of sophisticated manipulative techniques and in bottle-opening success. Our results also suggest that age-related physical maturation, experiential trial-and-error learning, and possibly social learning contributed to the acquisition of foraging competence in this task. These findings illuminate the mechanisms underlying inter-individual behavioral variability and intra-individual behavioral flexibility amongst free-ranging individuals of a cercopithecine primate species, traditionally known for its ecological adaptability and behavioral plasticity. Finally, this study documents how the presence of humans, their artefacts and their activities facilitate the development of certain behavioral traditions in free-ranging nonhuman populations, thus providing valuable insights into how human-alloprimate relations can be restructured within the increasingly resource-competitive environments of the Anthropocene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arijit Pal
- Animal Behaviour and Cognition Programme, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, India
| | - Santanu Mahato
- Biopsychology Laboratory and Institution of Excellence, University of Mysore, Mysore, India
| | - Jean-Baptiste Leca
- Animal Behaviour and Cognition Programme, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, India.,Department of Psychology, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB, Canada
| | - Anindya Sinha
- Animal Behaviour and Cognition Programme, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, India.,Centre for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India.,College of Humanities, Exeter University, Exeter, United Kingdom
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20
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Acerbi A, Snyder WD, Tennie C. The method of exclusion (still) cannot identify specific mechanisms of cultural inheritance. Sci Rep 2022; 12:21680. [PMID: 36522390 PMCID: PMC9755256 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-25646-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2022] [Accepted: 12/02/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The method of exclusion identifies patterns of distributions of behaviours and/or artefact forms among different groups, where these patterns are deemed unlikely to arise from purely genetic and/or ecological factors. The presence of such patterns is often used to establish whether a species is cultural or not-i.e. whether a species uses social learning or not. Researchers using or describing this method have often pointed out that the method cannot pinpoint which specific type(s) of social learning resulted in the observed patterns. However, the literature continues to contain such inferences. In a new attempt to warn against these logically unwarranted conclusions, we illustrate this error using a novel approach. We use an individual-based model, focused on wild ape cultural patterns-as these patterns are the best-known cases of animal culture and as they also contain the most frequent usage of the unwarranted inference for specific social learning mechanisms. We built a model that contained agents unable to copy specifics of behavioural or artefact forms beyond their individual reach (which we define as "copying"). We did so, as some of the previous inference claims related to social learning mechanisms revolve around copying defined in this way. The results of our model however show that non-copying social learning can already reproduce the defining-even iconic-features of observed ape cultural patterns detected by the method of exclusion. This shows, using a novel model approach, that copying processes are not necessary to produce the cultural patterns that are sometimes still used in an attempt to identify copying processes. Additionally, our model could fully control for both environmental and genetic factors (impossible in real life) and thus offers a new validity check for the method of exclusion as related to general cultural claims-a check that the method passed. Our model also led to new and additional findings, which we likewise discuss.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alberto Acerbi
- Division of Psychology, Centre for Culture and Evolution, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, UB8 3PH, UK.
| | - William Daniel Snyder
- Faculty of Science, Department of Geosciences, WG for Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Schloß Hohentübingen, Burgsteige 11, 72070, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Claudio Tennie
- Faculty of Science, Department of Geosciences, WG for Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Schloß Hohentübingen, Burgsteige 11, 72070, Tübingen, Germany.
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21
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Whiten A. Blind alleys and fruitful pathways in the comparative study of cultural cognition. Phys Life Rev 2022; 43:211-238. [PMID: 36343568 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2022.10.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
A mere few decades ago, culture was thought a unique human attribute. Evidence to the contrary accumulated through the latter part of the twentieth century and has exploded in the present one, demonstrating the transmission of traditions through social learning across all principal vertebrate taxa and even invertebrates, notably insects. The scope of human culture is nevertheless highly distinctive. What makes our cultural capacities and their cognitive underpinnings so different? In this article I argue that in behavioural scientists' endeavours to answer this question, fruitful research pathways and their ensuing discoveries have come to exist alongside popular, yet in the light of current empirical evidence, highly questionable scenarios and even scientific blind alleys. I particularly re-evaluate theories that rely on the centrality of a supposed uniquely human capacity for imitative copying in explaining the distinctive capacity for massive cumulative cultural evolution (CCE) in our species. The most extreme versions of this perspective suffer logical incoherence and severe limits on scientific testability. By contrast the field has generated a range of rigorous observational and experimental methodologies that have revealed both long-term cultural fidelity and limited forms of CCE in non-human species. Attention now turns to directly investigating the scope, limits and underlying cognition of non-human versus human CCE, with a broader approach to factors additional to cultural transmission, notably the role of invention, innovation and evolved motivational biases underlying the scope of CCE in the species studied.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Whiten
- Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9JP, UK.
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22
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Luncz LV, Braun DR, Marreiros J, Bamford M, Zeng C, Pacome SS, Junghenn P, Buckley Z, Yao X, Carvalho S. Chimpanzee wooden tool analysis advances the identification of percussive technology. iScience 2022; 25:105315. [PMID: 36304114 PMCID: PMC9593238 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2022] [Revised: 09/09/2022] [Accepted: 10/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability of humans to mediate environmental variation through tool use is likely the key to our success. However, our current knowledge of early cultural evolution derives almost exclusively from studies of stone tools and fossil bones found in the archaeological record. Tools made of plants are intrinsically perishable, and as such are almost entirely absent in the early record of human material culture. Modern human societies as well as nonhuman primate species use plant materials for tools far more often than stone, suggesting that current archaeological data are missing a substantial component of ancient technology. Here, we develop methods that quantify internal and external damage pattern in percussive wooden tools of living primates. Our work shows that the inflicted damage is irreversible, potentially persisting throughout fossilization processes. This research presents opportunities to investigate organic artifacts, a significant and highly neglected aspect of technological evolution within the Primate order. Chimpanzee percussive foraging leaves permanent damage on wooden tools Percussive activities leave diagnostic patterns visible in 2D images and 3D surfaces Machine learning can diagnose damage patterns even when details are obscured Percussive activities produce irreversible damage to the internal structure of wood
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Affiliation(s)
- Lydia V. Luncz
- Technological Primates Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig 04103, Germany,Primate Models for Behavioral Evolution Lab, Institute of Human Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford OX26PN, UK,Corresponding author
| | - David R. Braun
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
| | - Joao Marreiros
- Laboratory for Traceology and Controlled Experiments, MONREPOS-RGZM, Schloss Monrepos, Neuwied, 56567, Germany,ICArEHB, Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behavior FCHS, Universidade do Algarve, Faro 8005, Portugal
| | - Marion Bamford
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2000, South Africa
| | - Chen Zeng
- Department of Physics and Data Science Program, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
| | | | - Patrick Junghenn
- Department of Physics and Data Science Program, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
| | - Zachary Buckley
- Department of Physics and Data Science Program, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
| | - Xinyu Yao
- Department of Physics and Data Science Program, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
| | - Susana Carvalho
- Primate Models for Behavioral Evolution Lab, Institute of Human Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford OX26PN, UK,ICArEHB, Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behavior FCHS, Universidade do Algarve, Faro 8005, Portugal,Gorongosa National Park, Sofala, Mozambique
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23
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Pal A, Sinha A. Beyond food for thought: tool use and manufacture by wild nonhuman primates in nonforaging contexts. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2022.101201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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24
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Lonsdorf EV, Sanz CM. Behavioral and cognitive perspectives on the evolution of tool use from wild chimpanzees. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2022.101144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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25
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Hayashi M, Takeshita H. Hierarchical object combination and tool use in the great apes and human children. Primates 2022; 63:429-441. [PMID: 35913534 PMCID: PMC9463204 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-022-01003-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2022] [Accepted: 07/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Object manipulation can be used as a comparative scale of cognitive development among primates, including humans. Combinatory object manipulation is a precursor of tool-using behavior that indicates material intelligence in primates. However, developmental data on it regarding the great apes other than chimpanzees is insufficient. We conducted a longitudinal investigation of humans and chimpanzees as well as a cross-sectional examination of other great-ape infants (two bonobos, three gorillas, and four orangutans) in captive settings by using two kinds of tasks that required either inserting or stacking combinatory action. The four species of great apes and humans demonstrated both types of combinatory object manipulation during infancy. However, the order of development in different types of combinatory object manipulations varied among the great apes. Furthermore, we applied a nesting-cup task to examine the hierarchical complexity in the combinatory strategies of human children and adult chimpanzees. Both of them exhibited highly hierarchical combinations in the nesting-cup task and employed the subassembly strategy, indicating that an action merge may exist not only in human children but also in adult chimpanzees. The results were discussed with reviews of the tool-use literature from the wild great apes. The early acquisition of an inserting action in the chimpanzees may explain the tool utilization commonality reported in wild chimpanzees. The combinatory object manipulation may have worked as an external enhancer to achieve an additional hierarchical complexity in cognition and behavior, eventually leading humans to develop a language system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Misato Hayashi
- Chubu Gakuin University, 30-1 Naka Oida-cho, Kakamigahara, Gifu, 504-0837, Japan.
- Japan Monkey Centre, Inuyama, Aichi, Japan.
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26
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Schulze JN, Denkinger J, Oña J, Poole MM, Garland EC. Humpback whale song revolutions continue to spread from the central into the eastern South Pacific. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:220158. [PMID: 36061519 DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.c.6125250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2022] [Accepted: 07/22/2022] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Cultural transmission of behaviour is an important aspect of many animal communities ranging from humans to birds. Male humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) sing a repetitive, stereotyped, socially learnt and culturally transmitted song display that slowly evolves each year. Most males within a population sing the same, slow-evolving song type; but in the South Pacific, song 'revolutions' have led to rapid and complete replacement of one song type by another introduced from a neighbouring population. Songs spread eastwards, from eastern Australia to French Polynesia, but the easterly extent of this transmission was unknown. Here, we investigated whether song revolutions continue to spread from the central (French Polynesia) into the eastern (Ecuador) South Pacific region. Similarity analyses using three consecutive years of song data (2016-2018) revealed that song themes recorded in 2016-2018 French Polynesian song matched song themes sung in 2018 Ecuadorian song, suggesting continued easterly transmission of song to Ecuador, and vocal connectivity across the entire South Pacific Ocean basin. This study demonstrates songs first identified in western populations can be transmitted across the entire South Pacific, supporting the potential for a circumpolar Southern Hemisphere cultural transmission of song and a vocal culture rivalled in its extent only by our own.
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Affiliation(s)
- Josephine N Schulze
- Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU), Scottish Oceans Institute, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB, UK
| | - Judith Denkinger
- Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales (Cociba), Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito EC170157, Ecuador
- Acoustic Ecology Program, CETACEA Ecuador Project, Quito EC17015, Ecuador
| | - Javier Oña
- Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales (Cociba), Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito EC170157, Ecuador
- Acoustic Ecology Program, CETACEA Ecuador Project, Quito EC17015, Ecuador
| | - M Michael Poole
- Marine Mammal Research Program, BP 698, Maharepa, 98728 Moorea, French Polynesia
| | - Ellen C Garland
- Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU), Scottish Oceans Institute, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB, UK
- Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9TH, UK
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Schulze JN, Denkinger J, Oña J, Poole MM, Garland EC. Humpback whale song revolutions continue to spread from the central into the eastern South Pacific. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:220158. [PMID: 36061519 PMCID: PMC9428538 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.220158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2022] [Accepted: 07/22/2022] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Cultural transmission of behaviour is an important aspect of many animal communities ranging from humans to birds. Male humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) sing a repetitive, stereotyped, socially learnt and culturally transmitted song display that slowly evolves each year. Most males within a population sing the same, slow-evolving song type; but in the South Pacific, song 'revolutions' have led to rapid and complete replacement of one song type by another introduced from a neighbouring population. Songs spread eastwards, from eastern Australia to French Polynesia, but the easterly extent of this transmission was unknown. Here, we investigated whether song revolutions continue to spread from the central (French Polynesia) into the eastern (Ecuador) South Pacific region. Similarity analyses using three consecutive years of song data (2016-2018) revealed that song themes recorded in 2016-2018 French Polynesian song matched song themes sung in 2018 Ecuadorian song, suggesting continued easterly transmission of song to Ecuador, and vocal connectivity across the entire South Pacific Ocean basin. This study demonstrates songs first identified in western populations can be transmitted across the entire South Pacific, supporting the potential for a circumpolar Southern Hemisphere cultural transmission of song and a vocal culture rivalled in its extent only by our own.
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Affiliation(s)
- Josephine N. Schulze
- Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU), Scottish Oceans Institute, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB, UK
| | - Judith Denkinger
- Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales (Cociba), Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito EC170157, Ecuador
- Acoustic Ecology Program, CETACEA Ecuador Project, Quito EC17015, Ecuador
| | - Javier Oña
- Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales (Cociba), Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito EC170157, Ecuador
- Acoustic Ecology Program, CETACEA Ecuador Project, Quito EC17015, Ecuador
| | - M. Michael Poole
- Marine Mammal Research Program, BP 698, Maharepa, 98728 Moorea, French Polynesia
| | - Ellen C. Garland
- Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU), Scottish Oceans Institute, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB, UK
- Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9TH, UK
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Girard-Buttoz C, Bortolato T, Laporte M, Grampp M, Zuberbühler K, Wittig RM, Crockford C. Population-specific call order in chimpanzee greeting vocal sequences. iScience 2022; 25:104851. [PMID: 36034222 PMCID: PMC9399282 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2022] [Revised: 04/01/2022] [Accepted: 07/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Primates rarely learn new vocalizations, but they can learn to use their vocalizations in different contexts. Such “vocal usage learning,” particularly in vocal sequences, is a hallmark of human language, but remains understudied in non-human primates. We assess usage learning in four wild chimpanzee communities of Taï and Budongo Forests by investigating population differences in call ordering of a greeting vocal sequence. Whilst in all groups, these sequences consisted of pant-hoots (long-distance contact call) and pant-grunts (short-distance submissive call), the order of the two calls differed across populations. Taï chimpanzees consistently commenced greetings with pant-hoots, whereas Budongo chimpanzees started with pant-grunts. We discuss different hypotheses to explain this pattern and conclude that higher intra-group aggression in Budongo may have led to a local pattern of individuals signaling submission first. This highlights how within-species variation in social dynamics may lead to flexibility in call order production, possibly acquired via usage learning. Chimpanzees combine pant-grunt and pant-hoot calls into a greeting hoot sequence Call-order of these greeting and contact calls is population specific Pant-grunt is uttered first in the population with higher in-group aggressions Vocal usage learning may lead to these population differences in sequence structure
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Harrison RA, van de Waal E. The unique potential of field research to understand primate social learning and cognition. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2022.101132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Lameira AR, Santamaría-Bonfil G, Galeone D, Gamba M, Hardus ME, Knott CD, Morrogh-Bernard H, Nowak MG, Campbell-Smith G, Wich SA. Sociality predicts orangutan vocal phenotype. Nat Ecol Evol 2022; 6:644-652. [PMID: 35314786 PMCID: PMC9085614 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-022-01689-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2021] [Accepted: 02/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
In humans, individuals' social setting determines which and how language is acquired. Social seclusion experiments show that sociality also guides vocal development in songbirds and marmoset monkeys, but absence of similar great ape data has been interpreted as support to saltational notions for language origin, even if such laboratorial protocols are unethical with great apes. Here we characterize the repertoire entropy of orangutan individuals and show that in the wild, different degrees of sociality across populations are associated with different 'vocal personalities' in the form of distinct regimes of alarm call variants. In high-density populations, individuals are vocally more original and acoustically unpredictable but new call variants are short lived, whereas individuals in low-density populations are more conformative and acoustically consistent but also exhibit more complex call repertoires. Findings provide non-invasive evidence that sociality predicts vocal phenotype in a wild great ape. They prove false hypotheses that discredit great apes as having hardwired vocal development programmes and non-plastic vocal behaviour. Social settings mould vocal output in hominids besides humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adriano R Lameira
- Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK. .,School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK.
| | - Guillermo Santamaría-Bonfil
- Instituto Nacional de Electricidad y Energías Limpias, Gerencia de Tecnologías de la Información, Cuernavaca, México
| | - Deborah Galeone
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Turin, Italy
| | - Marco Gamba
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Turin, Italy
| | | | - Cheryl D Knott
- Department of Anthropology, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Helen Morrogh-Bernard
- Borneo Nature Foundation, Palangka Raya, Indonesia.,College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - Matthew G Nowak
- The PanEco Foundation-Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme, Berg am Irchel, Switzerland.,Department of Anthropology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, USA
| | - Gail Campbell-Smith
- Yayasan Inisiasi Alam Rehabilitasi Indonesia, International Animal Rescue, Ketapang, Indonesia
| | - Serge A Wich
- School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK.,Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
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Haslam M. Insights from orangutans into the evolution of tool use. Nature 2022; 604:427-428. [PMID: 35413997 DOI: 10.1038/d41586-022-00872-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Reindl E, Tennie C, Apperly IA, Lugosi Z, Beck SR. Young children spontaneously invent three different types of associative tool use behaviour. EVOLUTIONARY HUMAN SCIENCES 2022; 4:e5. [PMID: 37588934 PMCID: PMC10426097 DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2022.4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Associative Tool Use (ATU) describes the use of two or more tools in combination, with the literature further differentiating between Tool set use, Tool composite use, Sequential tool use and Secondary tool use. Research investigating the cognitive processes underlying ATU has shown that some primate and bird species spontaneously invent Tool set and Sequential tool use. Yet studies with humans are sparse. Whether children are also able to spontaneously invent ATU behaviours and at what age this ability emerges is poorly understood. We addressed this gap in the literature with two experiments involving preschoolers (E1, N = 66, 3 years 6 months to 4 years 9 months; E2, N = 119, 3 years 0 months to 6 years 10 months) who were administered novel tasks measuring Tool set, Metatool and Sequential tool use. Participants needed to solve the tasks individually, without the opportunity for social learning (except for enhancement effects). Children from 3 years of age spontaneously invented all of the types of investigated ATU behaviours. Success rates were low, suggesting that individual invention of ATU in novel tasks is still challenging for preschoolers. We discuss how future studies can use and expand our tasks to deepen our understanding of tool use and problem-solving in humans and non-human animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- E. Reindl
- School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Brimingham, UK
- Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Durham, UK
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
| | - C. Tennie
- Department for Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - I. A. Apperly
- School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Brimingham, UK
| | - Z. Lugosi
- Division of Psychology, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK
| | - S. R. Beck
- School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Brimingham, UK
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Gruber T, Chimento M, Aplin LM, Biro D. Efficiency fosters cumulative culture across species. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20200308. [PMID: 34894729 PMCID: PMC8666915 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0308] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2021] [Accepted: 09/17/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent studies in several taxa have demonstrated that animal culture can evolve to become more efficient in various contexts ranging from tool use to route learning and migration. Under recent definitions, such increases in efficiency might satisfy the core criteria of cumulative cultural evolution (CCE). However, there is not yet a satisfying consensus on the precise definition of efficiency, CCE or the link between efficiency and more complex, extended forms of CCE considered uniquely human. To bring clarity to this wider discussion of CCE, we develop the concept of efficiency by (i) reviewing recent potential evidence for CCE in animals, and (ii) clarifying a useful definition of efficiency by synthesizing perspectives found within the literature, including animal studies and the wider iterated learning literature. Finally, (iii) we discuss what factors might impinge on the informational bottleneck of social transmission, and argue that this provides pressure for learnable behaviours across species. We conclude that framing CCE in terms of efficiency casts complexity in a new light, as learnable behaviours are a requirement for the evolution of complexity. Understanding how efficiency greases the ratchet of cumulative culture provides a better appreciation of how similar cultural evolution can be between taxonomically diverse species-a case for continuity across the animal kingdom. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'The emergence of collective knowledge and cumulative culture in animals, humans and machines'.
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Affiliation(s)
- T. Gruber
- Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences and Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - M. Chimento
- Cognitive and Cultural Ecology Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - L. M. Aplin
- Cognitive and Cultural Ecology Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - D. Biro
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
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Whiten A, Harrison RA, McGuigan N, Vale GL, Watson SK. Collective knowledge and the dynamics of culture in chimpanzees. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20200321. [PMID: 34894742 PMCID: PMC8666901 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0321] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2021] [Accepted: 07/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Social learning in non-human primates has been studied experimentally for over 120 years, yet until the present century this was limited to what one individual learns from a single other. Evidence of group-wide traditions in the wild then highlighted the collective context for social learning, and broader 'diffusion experiments' have since demonstrated transmission at the community level. In the present article, we describe and set in comparative perspective three strands of our recent research that further explore the collective dimensions of culture and cumulative culture in chimpanzees. First, exposing small communities of chimpanzees to contexts incorporating increasingly challenging, but more rewarding tool use opportunities revealed solutions arising through the combination of different individuals' discoveries, spreading to become shared innovations. The second series of experiments yielded evidence of conformist changes from habitual techniques to alternatives displayed by a unanimous majority of others but implicating a form of quorum decision-making. Third, we found that between-group differences in social tolerance were associated with differential success in developing more complex tool use to exploit an increasingly inaccessible resource. We discuss the implications of this array of findings in the wider context of related studies of humans, other primates and non-primate species. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'The emergence of collective knowledge and cumulative culture in animals, humans and machines'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Whiten
- Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, and Scottish Primate Research Group, School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, South Street, St Andrews KY16 9JP, UK
| | - Rachel A. Harrison
- Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, and Scottish Primate Research Group, School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, South Street, St Andrews KY16 9JP, UK
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne 1015, Switzerland
| | - Nicola McGuigan
- Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, and Scottish Primate Research Group, School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, South Street, St Andrews KY16 9JP, UK
- School of Education and Social Sciences, University of the West of Scotland, Paisley PA1 2BE, UK
| | - Gillian L. Vale
- Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, and Scottish Primate Research Group, School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, South Street, St Andrews KY16 9JP, UK
- Lester E Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Stuart K. Watson
- Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, and Scottish Primate Research Group, School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, South Street, St Andrews KY16 9JP, UK
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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OUP accepted manuscript. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2022. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blac048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
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36
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Makur KP, Utami-Atmoko SS, Setia TM, van Noordwijk MA, Vogel ER. Slow loris (Nycticebus borneanus) consumption by a wild Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii). Primates 2021; 63:25-31. [PMID: 34787739 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-021-00960-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Vertebrate predation and consumption by wild Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus spp.) is rare. In contrast to recorded observations of slow loris consumption by Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii), no cases of this have been previously published for Bornean orangutans in the wild. In 2017, we observed the capture and consumption of a slow loris (Nycticebus borneanus) by an adult unflanged male Bornean orangutan at Tuanan Orangutan Research Station, which is located in the Kapuas region of Central Kalimantan. The unflanged male was together with an adult female and her 3.5-year-old offspring throughout the event. However, despite the mother and her offspring watching the male closely and occasionally begging while he consumed the loris, he resisted all food-taking attempts. This study reports, to the best of our knowledge, the first documented case of slow loris predation and consumption by a Bornean orangutan, and thus provides an important data point for understanding primate predation on other primate species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristana Parinters Makur
- Faculty of Biology, Universitas Nasional, Jl. Sawo Manila, Jakarta, Indonesia.,Primate Research Center, Universitas Nasional, Jl. Sawo Manila, Jakarta, Indonesia
| | - Sri Suci Utami-Atmoko
- Faculty of Biology, Universitas Nasional, Jl. Sawo Manila, Jakarta, Indonesia. .,Primate Research Center, Universitas Nasional, Jl. Sawo Manila, Jakarta, Indonesia.
| | - Tatang Mitra Setia
- Faculty of Biology, Universitas Nasional, Jl. Sawo Manila, Jakarta, Indonesia.,Primate Research Center, Universitas Nasional, Jl. Sawo Manila, Jakarta, Indonesia
| | | | - Erin R Vogel
- Department of Anthropology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, USA. .,The Center for Human Evolutionary Studies, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
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Pelé M, Thomas G, Liénard A, Eguchi N, Shimada M, Sueur C. I Wanna Draw Like You: Inter- and Intra-Individual Differences in Orang-Utan Drawings. Animals (Basel) 2021; 11:3202. [PMID: 34827934 PMCID: PMC8614565 DOI: 10.3390/ani11113202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2021] [Revised: 11/04/2021] [Accepted: 11/08/2021] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
This study analyses 749 drawings by five female Bornean orang-utans (Pongo pygmaeus) at Tama Zoological Park in Japan. We searched for differences between individuals but also tried to identify possible temporal changes among the drawings of one individual, Molly, who drew almost 1300 drawings from 2006 to 2011. An analysis of the drawings was carried out after collecting quantitative and qualitative variables. Our findings reveal evidence of differences in the drawing style of the five individuals as well as creative changes in Molly's drawing style throughout her lifetime. Individuals differed in terms of the colours used, the space they filled, and the shapes (fan patterns, circles, or loops) they drew. Molly drew less and less as she grew older, and we found a significant difference between drawings produced in winter, when orang-utans were kept inside and had less activity, and those produced during other seasons. Our results suggest that the drawing behaviour of these five orang-utans is not random and that differences among individuals might reflect differences of styles, states of mind, and motivation to draw.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie Pelé
- Anthropo-Lab, ETHICS EA7446, Lille Catholic University, 59000 Lille, France
| | - Gwendoline Thomas
- UFR LLSHS, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, 95100 Paris, France; (G.T.); (A.L.)
| | - Alaïs Liénard
- UFR LLSHS, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, 95100 Paris, France; (G.T.); (A.L.)
| | - Nagi Eguchi
- Department of Animal Sciences, Teikyo University of Science, Uenohara 409-0193, Japan; (N.E.); (M.S.)
| | - Masaki Shimada
- Department of Animal Sciences, Teikyo University of Science, Uenohara 409-0193, Japan; (N.E.); (M.S.)
| | - Cédric Sueur
- Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC UMR 7178, F-67000 Strasbourg, France;
- Institut Universitaire de France, 75231 Paris, France
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Motes-Rodrigo A, Tennie C. Captive great apes tend to innovate simple tool behaviors quickly. Am J Primatol 2021; 84:e23311. [PMID: 34339543 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2021] [Revised: 07/12/2021] [Accepted: 07/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Recent studies have highlighted the important role that individual learning mechanisms and different forms of enhancenment play in the acquisition of novel behaviors by naïve individuals. A considerable subset of these studies has focused on tool innovation by our closest living relatives, the great apes, to better undestand the evolution of technology in our own lineage. To be able to isolate the role that individual learning plays in great ape tool innovation, researchers usually employ what are known as baseline tests. Although these baselines are commonly used in behavioral studies in captivity, the length of these tests in terms of number of trials and duration remains unstandarized across studies. To address this methodological issue, we conducted a literature review of great ape tool innovation studies conducted in zoological institutions and compiled various methodological data including the timing of innovation. Our literature review revealed an early innovation tendency in great apes, which was particularly pronounced when simple forms of tool use were investigated. In the majority of experiments where tool innovation took place, this occurred within the first trial and/or the first hour of testing. We discuss different possible sources of variation in the latency to innovate such as testing setup, species and task. We hope that our literature review helps researchers design more data-informed, resource-efficient experiments on tool innovation in our closest living relatives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alba Motes-Rodrigo
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Claudio Tennie
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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40
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Middle Pleistocene fire use: The first signal of widespread cultural diffusion in human evolution. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:2101108118. [PMID: 34301807 PMCID: PMC8346817 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2101108118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Control of fire is one of the most important technological innovations within the evolution of humankind. The archaeological signal of fire use becomes very visible from around 400,000 y ago onward. Interestingly, this occurs at a geologically similar time over major parts of the Old World, in Africa, as well as in western Eurasia, and in different subpopulations of the wider hominin metapopulation. We interpret this spatiotemporal pattern as the result of cultural diffusion, and as representing the earliest clear-cut case of widespread cultural change resulting from diffusion in human evolution. This fire-use pattern is followed slightly later by a similar spatiotemporal distribution of Levallois technology, at the beginning of the African Middle Stone Age and the western Eurasian Middle Paleolithic. These archaeological data, as well as studies of ancient genomes, lead us to hypothesize that at the latest by 400,000 y ago, hominin subpopulations encountered one another often enough and were sufficiently tolerant toward one another to transmit ideas and techniques over large regions within relatively short time periods. Furthermore, it is likely that the large-scale social networks necessary to transmit complicated skills were also in place. Most importantly, this suggests a form of cultural behavior significantly more similar to that of extant Homo sapiens than to our great ape relatives.
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Lindshield S, Rothman JM, Ortmann S, Pruetz JD. Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) access a nutritionally balanced, high energy, and abundant food, baobab (Adansonia digitata) fruit, with extractive foraging and reingestion. Am J Primatol 2021; 83:e23307. [PMID: 34293210 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23307] [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: 09/04/2020] [Revised: 06/01/2021] [Accepted: 07/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Intrinsic to several hypotheses explaining the evolution of foraging behavior complexity, such as proto-tool use, is the assumption that more complex ingestive behaviors are adaptations allowing individuals to access difficult to procure but nutritionally or energetically rewarding foods. However, nutritional approaches to understanding this complexity have been underutilized. The goal of this study was to evaluate potential nutritional determinants of two unusual foraging behaviors, fruit cracking with anvils and seed reingestion, by adult male western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) at Fongoli, Senegal during the baobab (Adansonia digitata) fruit season. We examined these behaviors in relation to nutrient and energy intake, and compared macronutrient and energy concentrations found in baobab fruits to other plant foods. Adult males ingested at least 31 distinct foods from 23 plant species. Baobab fruit comprised the majority of daily energy intake (68 ± 34%, range: 0%-98%). The energetic concentration of baobab fruit varied by phenophase and part ingested, with ripe and semi-ripe fruit ranking high in energy return rate. Males preferred ripe and semi-ripe baobab fruit but unripe fruit intake was higher overall. The seed kernels were high in protein and fat relative to fruit pulp, and these kernels were easier to access during the unripe stage. During the ripe stage, seed kernels were accessible by reingestion, after the seed coat was softened during gut passage. In addition to providing macronutrients and energy, baobab fruit was a relatively abundant food source. We conclude that baobab pulp and seed are high quality foods at Fongoli during the baobab season because they are nutritionally balanced, high in energy, and relatively abundant in the environment. These nutritional and abundance characteristics may explain, in part, why these chimpanzees use anvils and reingestion to access a mechanically challenging food.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stacy Lindshield
- Department of Anthropology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
| | - Jessica M Rothman
- Department of Anthropology, Hunter College of the City University of New York, New York, New York, USA.,New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, New York, USA
| | - Sylvia Ortmann
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Jill D Pruetz
- Department of Anthropology, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas, USA
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Insights from comparative research on social and cultural learning. PROGRESS IN BRAIN RESEARCH 2021; 254:247-270. [PMID: 32859290 DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2020.05.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/13/2023]
Abstract
Social cognitive skills play a crucial role in human life, and have allowed us to reach a unique level of behavioral and cultural complexity. However, many nonhuman species also show a complex understanding of the social world. Building on theories of human social development, we will follow the emergence of cultural learning skills across taxa, discussing similarities and differences between humans and other species. We will first review literature on social learning, including enhancement, emulation and imitation. Then, we will discuss existing studies on the evolution of teaching, and finally, we will critically review literature on the social transmission of skills and knowledge across generations. By adopting a comparative perspective, we will be able to identify the unique characteristics of social transmission in humans, and the social skills that are instead shared with other species, to gain a deeper understanding of the role of cultural learning in social cognitive development.
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Wray J, Keen E, O’Mahony ÉN. Social survival: Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) use social structure to partition ecological niches within proposed critical habitat. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0245409. [PMID: 34161375 PMCID: PMC8221492 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0245409] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2020] [Accepted: 05/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Animal culture and social bonds are relevant to wildlife conservation because they influence patterns of geography, behavior, and strategies of survival. Numerous examples of socially-driven habitat partitioning and ecological-niche specialization can be found among vertebrates, including toothed whales. But such social-ecological dynamics, described here as ‘social niche partitioning’, are not known among baleen whales, whose societies—particularly on foraging grounds—are largely perceived as unstructured and incidental to matters of habitat use and conservation. However, through 16 years of behavioral observations and photo-identifications of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) feeding within a fjord system in the Canadian Pacific (primarily within Gitga’at First Nation waters), we have documented long-term pair bonds (up to 12 years) as well as a complex societal structure, which corresponds closely to persistent patterns in feeding strategy, long-term site fidelity (extended occupancy and annual rate of return up to 75%), specific geographic preferences within the fjord system, and other forms of habitat use. Randomization tests of network congruency and clustering algorithms were used to test for overlap in patterns of social structure and habitat use, which confirmed the occurrence of social niche partitioning on the feeding grounds of this baleen whale species. In addition, we document the extensive practice of group bubble net feeding in Pacific Canada. This coordinated feeding behavior was found to strongly mediate the social structure and habitat use within this humpback whale society. Additionally, during our 2004–2019 study, we observed a shift in social network structure in 2010–2012, which corresponded with environmental and demographic shifts including a sudden decline in the population’s calving rate. Our findings indicate that the social lives of humpback whales, and perhaps baleen whales generally, are more complex than previously supposed and should be a primary consideration in the assessment of potential impacts to important habitat.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janie Wray
- North Coast Cetacean Society, Alert Bay, British Columbia, Canada
- Pacific Orca Society, Alert Bay, British Columbia, Canada
- * E-mail:
| | - Eric Keen
- North Coast Cetacean Society, Alert Bay, British Columbia, Canada
- Marine Ecology & Telemetry Research, Seabeck, Washington, United States of America
- Sewanee: The University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Éadin N. O’Mahony
- North Coast Cetacean Society, Alert Bay, British Columbia, Canada
- Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, East Sands, St Andrews, United Kingdom
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Ashton N, Davis R. Cultural mosaics, social structure, and identity: The Acheulean threshold in Europe. J Hum Evol 2021; 156:103011. [PMID: 34102521 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2020] [Revised: 04/08/2021] [Accepted: 04/08/2021] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
The period between 600 and 400 ka is a critical phase for human evolution in Europe. The south and northwest saw a dramatic increase in sites, the spread of handaxe technology alongside bone and wooden tool manufacture, efficient hunting techniques, and the use of fire. Lithic assemblages show considerable variation, including the presence/absence of handaxes and tool morphology. To explain this variation, we propose the Cultural Mosaic Model, which suggests that there is a range of expressions of the Acheulean, with local resources being instrumental in creating distinct material cultures with or without handaxes. We argue that if typologically and technologically distinct assemblage types are regionally distributed, chronologically separated, and persistent over time, then they are unlikely to be caused purely by raw material constraints or functional variation but rather reflect populations with different material cultures. We initially assess the model using British data. Britain was a northwestern peninsula of Europe, and oscillations in climate led to episodic occupation. The terraces of the pre-MIS 12 Bytham River provide a framework for dating occupation to MIS 13 and 15, while during MIS 11, archaeological sites with rich environmental records can be dated to substage level. We suggest there are six chronologically and typologically distinct assemblage types that reflect a series of population incursions into Britain. We review the broader European lithic record, which is consistent with the Cultural Mosaic Model. In developing the model, we suggest that during stable climate, localized cultures developed, while climatic change led to shifts in population, with increased knowledge exchange and gene flow. We suggest that group expression through material culture was an important stage in social development by promoting group cohesion, larger group size, better cooperation, improved knowledge transfer, and enabling populations to survive in larger foraging territories in northern Europe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nick Ashton
- British Museum, Department of Britain, Europe and Prehistory, Franks House, 56 Orsman Road, London N1 5QJ, UK.
| | - Rob Davis
- British Museum, Department of Britain, Europe and Prehistory, Franks House, 56 Orsman Road, London N1 5QJ, UK
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Belkina EG, Shiglik A, Sopilko NG, Lysenkov SN, Markov AV. Mate choice copying in Drosophila is probably less robust than previously suggested. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.04.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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Canteloup C, Cera MB, Barrett BJ, van de Waal E. Processing of novel food reveals payoff and rank-biased social learning in a wild primate. Sci Rep 2021; 11:9550. [PMID: 34006940 PMCID: PMC8131368 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-88857-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2020] [Accepted: 04/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Social learning—learning from others—is the basis for behavioural traditions. Different social learning strategies (SLS), where individuals biasedly learn behaviours based on their content or who demonstrates them, may increase an individual’s fitness and generate behavioural traditions. While SLS have been mostly studied in isolation, their interaction and the interplay between individual and social learning is less understood. We performed a field-based open diffusion experiment in a wild primate. We provided two groups of vervet monkeys with a novel food, unshelled peanuts, and documented how three different peanut opening techniques spread within the groups. We analysed data using hierarchical Bayesian dynamic learning models that explore the integration of multiple SLS with individual learning. We (1) report evidence of social learning compared to strictly individual learning, (2) show that vervets preferentially socially learn the technique that yields the highest observed payoff and (3) also bias attention toward individuals of higher rank. This shows that behavioural preferences can arise when individuals integrate social information about the efficiency of a behaviour alongside cues related to the rank of a demonstrator. When these preferences converge to the same behaviour in a group, they may result in stable behavioural traditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte Canteloup
- Inkawu Vervet Project, Mawana Game Reserve, KwaZulu Natal, 3115, South Africa. .,Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland.
| | - Mabia B Cera
- Inkawu Vervet Project, Mawana Game Reserve, KwaZulu Natal, 3115, South Africa
| | - Brendan J Barrett
- Department for the Ecology of Animal Societies, Max Planck Institute for Animal Behaviour, Konstanz, Germany.,Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.,Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology, Department of Human Behaviour, Ecology, and Culture, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Erica van de Waal
- Inkawu Vervet Project, Mawana Game Reserve, KwaZulu Natal, 3115, South Africa.,Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
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Leeuwen EJ, Van Donink S, Eens M, Stevens JM. Group‐level variation in co‐feeding tolerance between two sanctuary‐housed communities of chimpanzees (
Pan troglodytes
). Ethology 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.13154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Edwin J.C. Leeuwen
- Department of Biology Behavioural Ecology and Ecophysiology Group University of Antwerp Wilrijk Belgium
- Centre for Research and Conservation Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp Antwerp Belgium
- Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Leipzig Germany
| | - Sanne Van Donink
- Department of Biology Behavioural Ecology and Ecophysiology Group University of Antwerp Wilrijk Belgium
| | - Marcel Eens
- Department of Biology Behavioural Ecology and Ecophysiology Group University of Antwerp Wilrijk Belgium
| | - Jeroen M.G. Stevens
- Department of Biology Behavioural Ecology and Ecophysiology Group University of Antwerp Wilrijk Belgium
- Centre for Research and Conservation Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp Antwerp Belgium
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Abstract
Culture is a hallmark of the human species, both in terms of the transmission of material inventions (e.g. tool manufacturing) and the adherence to social conventions (e.g. greeting mannerisms). While material culture has been reported across the animal kingdom, indications of social culture in animals are limited. Moreover, there is a paucity of evidencing cultural stability in animals. Here, based on a large dataset spanning 12 years, I show that chimpanzees adhere to arbitrary group-specific handclasp preferences that cannot be explained by genetics or the ecological environment. Despite substantial changes in group compositions across the study period, and all chimpanzees having several behavioural variants in their repertoires, chimpanzees showed and maintained the within-group homogeneity and between-group heterogeneity that are so characteristic of the cultural phenomenon in the human species. These findings indicate that human culture, including its arbitrary social conventions and long-term stability, is rooted in our evolutionary history.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edwin J. C. van Leeuwen
- Department for Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- Behavioral Ecology and Ecophysiology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
- Centre for Research and Conservation, Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, Koningin Astridplein 26, 2018, Antwerp, Belgium
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Abstract
Culture can be defined as all that is learned from others and is repeatedly transmitted in this way, forming traditions that may be inherited by successive generations. This cultural form of inheritance was once thought specific to humans, but research over the past 70 years has instead revealed it to be widespread in nature, permeating the lives of a diversity of animals, including all major classes of vertebrates. Recent studies suggest that culture's reach may extend also to invertebrates-notably, insects. In the present century, the reach of animal culture has been found to extend across many different behavioral domains and to rest on a suite of social learning processes facilitated by a variety of selective biases that enhance the efficiency and adaptiveness of learning. Far-reaching implications, for disciplines from evolutionary biology to anthropology and conservation policies, are increasingly being explored.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Whiten
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9JP, UK.
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