Anthropology: Tool use may be socially learned in wild chimpanzees

 
Long-term field studies reveal that one group of wild chimpanzees does not crack nuts, even if another herd in the neighborhood is using tools to crack nuts, even when given stones to crack nuts. The paper I madeNature Human Behavior Will be published in.This result suggests that wild chimpanzees are not easily mastered in the use of tools and may also suggest that such behavior must be socially learned.

Humans learn skills such as the use of tools by observing each other.Human culture has become increasingly complex through such social learning.However, there is ongoing debate as to whether this cumulative culture is unique to humans.Past experiments with captive apes have shown that they begin to use tools without being taught, but captive apes have observed humans using tools. , It is possible that they are learning these behaviors from there.

Now, in a long-standing field experiment, Kathelijne Koops and colleagues gave a herd of wild chimpanzees in the village of Serimbara, Guinea, exactly the same tools that a nearby herd of chimpanzees used to crack nuts. Koops and colleagues also gave the chimpanzees nuts and photographed them using a camera trap.As a result, the chimpanzees initially showed an interest in tools, but did not use them to crack nuts and gradually lost interest within a few months.However, another herd of chimpanzees in the village of Bossou, Guinea, only six kilometers away, uses tools to crack nuts.

These results provide further insights into the cultural nature of chimpanzees.Chimpanzee tree splitting is considered to be a cultural activity practiced only by certain herds.This experiment suggests that some of these chimpanzee cultures are not easily acquired by other chimpanzees, even if they are given tools. Koops et al. Believe that chimpanzee culture is very similar to human culture and can develop through learning within social groups.

 
* This article is reprinted from "Nature Japan Featured Highlights".
Reprinted from: "Anthropology: The use of wild chimpanzee tools may be socially learned'