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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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2
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Dialects in leaf-clipping and other leaf-modifying gestures between neighbouring communities of East African chimpanzees. Sci Rep 2023; 13:147. [PMID: 36604445 PMCID: PMC9814361 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-25814-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2022] [Accepted: 12/05/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Dialects are a cultural property of animal communication previously described in the signals of several animal species. While dialects have predominantly been described in vocal signals, chimpanzee leaf-clipping and other 'leaf-modifying' gestures, used across chimpanzee and bonobo communities, have been suggested as a candidate for cultural variation in gestural communication. Here we combine direct observation with archaeological techniques to compare the form and use of leaf-modifying gestures in two neighbouring communities of East African chimpanzees. We found that while both communities used multiple forms, primarily within sexual solicitation, they showed a strong preference for a single, different gesture form. The observed variation in form preference between these neighbouring communities within the same context suggests that these differences are, at least in part, socially derived. Our results highlight an unexplored source of variation and flexibility in gestural communication, opening the door for future research to explore socially derived dialects in non-vocal communication.
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3
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Watson SK, Filippi P, Gasparri L, Falk N, Tamer N, Widmer P, Manser M, Glock H. Optionality in animal communication: a novel framework for examining the evolution of arbitrariness. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2022; 97:2057-2075. [PMID: 35818133 PMCID: PMC9795909 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12882] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2021] [Revised: 06/14/2022] [Accepted: 06/16/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
A critical feature of language is that the form of words need not bear any perceptual similarity to their function - these relationships can be 'arbitrary'. The capacity to process these arbitrary form-function associations facilitates the enormous expressive power of language. However, the evolutionary roots of our capacity for arbitrariness, i.e. the extent to which related abilities may be shared with animals, is largely unexamined. We argue this is due to the challenges of applying such an intrinsically linguistic concept to animal communication, and address this by proposing a novel conceptual framework highlighting a key underpinning of linguistic arbitrariness, which is nevertheless applicable to non-human species. Specifically, we focus on the capacity to associate alternative functions with a signal, or alternative signals with a function, a feature we refer to as optionality. We apply this framework to a broad survey of findings from animal communication studies and identify five key dimensions of communicative optionality: signal production, signal adjustment, signal usage, signal combinatoriality and signal perception. We find that optionality is widespread in non-human animals across each of these dimensions, although only humans demonstrate it in all five. Finally, we discuss the relevance of optionality to behavioural and cognitive domains outside of communication. This investigation provides a powerful new conceptual framework for the cross-species investigation of the origins of arbitrariness, and promises to generate original insights into animal communication and language evolution more generally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stuart K. Watson
- Department of Comparative Language ScienceUniversity of ZurichAffolternstrasse 568050ZürichSwitzerland,Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language EvolutionUniversity of ZurichAffolternstrasse 568050ZürichSwitzerland,Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental StudiesUniversity of ZurichWinterthurerstrasse 1908057ZurichSwitzerland
| | - Piera Filippi
- Department of Comparative Language ScienceUniversity of ZurichAffolternstrasse 568050ZürichSwitzerland,Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language EvolutionUniversity of ZurichAffolternstrasse 568050ZürichSwitzerland,Department of PhilosophyUniversity of ZurichZurichbergstrasse 438044ZürichSwitzerland
| | - Luca Gasparri
- Department of PhilosophyUniversity of ZurichZurichbergstrasse 438044ZürichSwitzerland,Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 8163 – STL – Savoirs Textes LangageF‐59000LilleFrance
| | - Nikola Falk
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language EvolutionUniversity of ZurichAffolternstrasse 568050ZürichSwitzerland,Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental StudiesUniversity of ZurichWinterthurerstrasse 1908057ZurichSwitzerland
| | - Nicole Tamer
- Department of Comparative Language ScienceUniversity of ZurichAffolternstrasse 568050ZürichSwitzerland,Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language EvolutionUniversity of ZurichAffolternstrasse 568050ZürichSwitzerland
| | - Paul Widmer
- Department of Comparative Language ScienceUniversity of ZurichAffolternstrasse 568050ZürichSwitzerland,Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language EvolutionUniversity of ZurichAffolternstrasse 568050ZürichSwitzerland
| | - Marta Manser
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language EvolutionUniversity of ZurichAffolternstrasse 568050ZürichSwitzerland,Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental StudiesUniversity of ZurichWinterthurerstrasse 1908057ZurichSwitzerland
| | - Hans‐Johann Glock
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language EvolutionUniversity of ZurichAffolternstrasse 568050ZürichSwitzerland,Department of PhilosophyUniversity of ZurichZurichbergstrasse 438044ZürichSwitzerland
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4
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Watson SK, Lambeth SP, Schapiro SJ. Innovative multi-material tool use in the pant-hoot display of a chimpanzee. Sci Rep 2022; 12:20605. [PMID: 36446876 PMCID: PMC9708694 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-24770-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2022] [Accepted: 11/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
'Pant-hoot displays' are a species-typical, multi-modal communicative behaviour in chimpanzees in which pant-hoot vocalisations are combined with varied behavioural displays. In both captivity and the wild, individuals commonly incorporate striking or throwing elements of their environment into these displays. In this case study, we present five videos of an unenculturated, captive, adult male chimpanzee combining a large rubber feeding tub with excelsior (wood wool) in a multi-step process, which was then integrated into the subject's pant-hoot displays as a percussive tool or 'instrument'. During the construction process, the subject demonstrated an understanding of the relevant properties of these materials, 'repairing' the tub to be a more functional drum when necessary. We supplement these videos with a survey of care staff from the study site for additional detail and context. Although care must be taken in generalising data from a single individual, the behaviour reported here hints at three intriguing features of chimpanzee communicative cognition: (1) it suggests a degree of voluntary control over vocal production, (2) it is a so-far unique example of compound tool innovation and use in communicative behaviour and (3) it may represent an example of forward planning in communicative behaviour. Each of these would represent hitherto undocumented dimensions of flexibility in chimpanzee communication, mapping fertile ground for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stuart K. Watson
- grid.7400.30000 0004 1937 0650Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Affolternstrasse 56, 8050 Zürich, Switzerland ,grid.7400.30000 0004 1937 0650Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich, Affolternstrasse 56, 8050 Zürich, Switzerland ,grid.7400.30000 0004 1937 0650Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Susan P. Lambeth
- grid.240145.60000 0001 2291 4776Department of Comparative Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 650 Cool Water Drive, Bastrop, TX 78602 USA
| | - Steven J. Schapiro
- grid.240145.60000 0001 2291 4776Department of Comparative Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 650 Cool Water Drive, Bastrop, TX 78602 USA ,grid.5254.60000 0001 0674 042XDepartment of Experimental Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
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Bessa J, Biro D, Hockings K. Inter-community behavioural variation confirmed through indirect methods in four neighbouring chimpanzee communities in Cantanhez NP, Guinea-Bissau. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:211518. [PMID: 35223060 PMCID: PMC8864369 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.211518] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2021] [Accepted: 01/31/2022] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Culture, while long viewed as exclusively human, has now been demonstrated across diverse taxa and contexts. However, most animal culture data are constrained to well-studied, habituated groups. This is the case for chimpanzees, arguably the most 'cultural' non-human species. While much progress has been made charting wild chimpanzees' cultural repertoire, large gaps remain in our knowledge of the majority of the continent's chimpanzees. Furthermore, few studies have compared neighbouring communities, despite such comparisons providing the strongest evidence for culture, and few have studied communities living in anthropogenic habitats although their culture is in imminent danger of disappearing. Here we combine direct, indirect and remote methods, including camera traps, to study, over 2 years, four unhabituated neighbouring chimpanzee communities inhabiting human-impacted habitats in Cantanhez NP, Guinea-Bissau. From traces collected during 1089 km of reconnaissance walks and 4197 videos from 56 camera trap locations, we identified 18 putative cultural traits. These included some noteworthy novel behaviours for these communities, and behaviours possibly new to the species. We created preliminary behavioural profiles for each community, and found inter-community differences spanning tool use, communication, and social behaviour, demonstrating the importance of comparing neighbouring communities and of studying previously neglected communities including those inhabiting anthropogenic landscapes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joana Bessa
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Centre for Research in Anthropology (CRIA NOVA FCSH), Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Dora Biro
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Kimberley Hockings
- Centre for Research in Anthropology (CRIA NOVA FCSH), Lisbon, Portugal
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
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Cissewski J, Luncz LV. Symbolic Signal Use in Wild Chimpanzee Gestural Communication?: A Theoretical Framework. Front Psychol 2021; 12:718414. [PMID: 35002829 PMCID: PMC8740021 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.718414] [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: 05/31/2021] [Accepted: 11/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Symbolic communication is not obvious in the natural communicative repertoires of our closest living relatives, the great apes. However, great apes do show symbolic competencies in laboratory studies. This includes the understanding and the use of human-provided abstract symbols. Given this evidence for the underlying ability, the apparent failure to make use of it in the wild is puzzling. We provide a theoretical framework for identifying basic forms of symbolic signal use in chimpanzee natural communication. In line with the laboratory findings, we concentrate on the most promising domain to investigate, namely gesture, and we provide a case study in this area. We suggest that evidence for basic symbolic signal use would consist of the presence of two key characteristics of symbolic communication, namely arbitrariness and conventionalization. Arbitrariness means that the linkage between the form of the gesture and its meaning shows no obvious logical or otherwise motivated connection. Conventionalization means that the gesture is shared at the group-level and is thus socially learned, not innate. Further, we discuss the emergence and transmission of these gestures. Demonstrating this basic form of symbolic signal use would indicate that the symbolic capacities revealed by laboratory studies also find their expression in the natural gestural communication of our closest living relatives, even if only to a limited extent. This theoretical article thus aims to contribute to our understanding of the developmental origins of great ape gestures, and hence, arguably, of human symbolic communication. It also has a very practical aim in that by providing clear criteria and by pointing out potential candidates for symbolic communication, we give fieldworkers useful prerequisites for identifying and analyzing signals which may demonstrate the use of great apes' symbolic capacities in the wild.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Cissewski
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology, and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Lydia V. Luncz
- Technological Primates Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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7
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Tennie C, van Schaik CP. Spontaneous (minimal) ritual in non-human great apes? Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 375:20190423. [PMID: 32594873 PMCID: PMC7423263 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The potential for rituals in non-human great apes (apes) is an understudied topic. We derive a minimal definition of ritual and then examine the currently available evidence for it in untrained and non-enculturated apes. First, we examine whether such apes show evidence for the two main components of our minimal definition of ritual: symbolism and copying. Second, we examine if there are actual cases already identifiable today that may fit all aspects of our minimal definition of ritual-or whether there are at least cases that fit some aspects (proto-ritual). We find that apes are not likely to spontaneously practise minimal ritual, but we claim that the highest expected likelihood of occurrence is in the results-copying domain. Yet, we did not find actual cases of minimal ritual in apes-including those involving environmental results. We did, however, find some cases that may match at least part of our minimal ritual definition-which we termed proto-ritual. At least two out of three potential cases of such proto-rituals that we identified (rain dance, object-in-ear and surplus nest-making procedures) do revolve around results. Overall, apes do not show much, or very clear, evidence for even minimal ritual, but may sometimes show proto-ritual. However, dedicated ape ritual studies are currently lacking, and future work may identify ape ritual (or clearer cases of proto-ritual). We discuss the implications of our preliminary finding for inferences of ritual in the last common ancestor of humans and apes. This article is part of the theme issue 'Ritual renaissance: new insights into the most human of behaviours'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudio Tennie
- Department for Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, 72070 Tübingen, Germany
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8
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Bandini E, Harrison RA. Innovation in chimpanzees. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2020; 95:1167-1197. [DOI: 10.1111/brv.12604] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2019] [Revised: 04/01/2020] [Accepted: 04/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Bandini
- Department for Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology The University of Tübingen Tübingen Germany
| | - Rachel A. Harrison
- Department of Ecology and Evolution University of Lausanne Lausanne Switzerland
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Gorillas' (Gorilla g. gorilla) knowledge of conspecifics' affordances: intraspecific social tool use for food acquisition. Primates 2020; 61:583-591. [PMID: 32166437 PMCID: PMC7347707 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-020-00805-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2019] [Accepted: 02/13/2020] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
The use of tools, long thought to be uniquely human, has now been observed in other animal taxa including several species of birds, non-primate mammals as well as some non-human primate species. Chimpanzees, one of humankind’s closest living relatives, exceed all other non-human animal species as they have been reported to use an exceptionally large toolkit. However, relatively little is known about the tool-use skills of the other great ape species. While the majority of tools described are inanimate objects, the use of social tools has received relatively little attention. Here we provide the first evidence of naturally occurring spontaneous exploitative behaviour of a conspecific as a social tool for food acquisition in non-human animals. We observed gorillas in captivity utilising a conspecific as a ladder to gain access to unreachable food. We discuss our findings in the light of other studies on social tool use and suggest the need for more nuanced interpretations of gorillas’ cognitive skills.
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Kalan AK, Carmignani E, Kronland-Martinet R, Ystad S, Chatron J, Aramaki M. Chimpanzees use tree species with a resonant timbre for accumulative stone throwing. Biol Lett 2019; 15:20190747. [PMID: 31847748 PMCID: PMC6936027 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2019.0747] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2019] [Accepted: 11/21/2019] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Animals use tools for communication relatively rarely compared to tool use for extractive foraging. We investigated the tool-use behaviour accumulative stone throwing (AST) in wild chimpanzees, who regularly throw rocks at trees, producing impact sounds and resulting in the aggregations of rocks. The function of AST remains unknown but appears to be communication-related. We conducted field experiments to test whether impact sounds produced by throwing rocks at trees varied according to the tree's properties. Specifically, we compared impact sounds of AST and non-AST tree species. We measured three acoustic descriptors related to intrinsic timbre quality, and found that AST tree species produced impact sounds that were less damped, with spectral energy concentrated at lower frequencies compared to non-AST tree species. Buttress roots in particular produced timbres with low-frequency energy (low spectral centroid) and slower signal onset (longer attack time). In summary, chimpanzees use tree species capable of producing more resonant sounds for AST compared to other tree species available.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ammie K. Kalan
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Eleonora Carmignani
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Richard Kronland-Martinet
- Aix Marseille University, CNRS, PRISM (Perception, Representations, Image, Sound, Music), 31, Chemin Joseph Aiguier, CS 70071, 13402 Marseille Cedex 09, France
| | - Sølvi Ystad
- Aix Marseille University, CNRS, PRISM (Perception, Representations, Image, Sound, Music), 31, Chemin Joseph Aiguier, CS 70071, 13402 Marseille Cedex 09, France
| | - Jacques Chatron
- Aix Marseille University, CNRS, Centrale Marseille, LMA, 4 impasse Nikola Tesla, CS 40006, 13453 Marseille Cedex 13, France
| | - Mitsuko Aramaki
- Aix Marseille University, CNRS, PRISM (Perception, Representations, Image, Sound, Music), 31, Chemin Joseph Aiguier, CS 70071, 13402 Marseille Cedex 09, France
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Preis A, Samuni L, Deschner T, Crockford C, Wittig RM. Urinary Cortisol, Aggression, Dominance and Competition in Wild, West African Male Chimpanzees. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
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