Is nut cracking in wild chimpanzees a cultural behaviour?

Boesch, Christophe; Marchesi, Paul; Marchesi, Nathalie; Fruth, Barbara; Joulian, Frédéric

doi:10.1006/jhev.1994.1020

Cited by 190 publications

(122 citation statements)

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“…We are building this study on previous detailed investigations of the nut-cracking behaviour of three neighbouring chimpanzee communities. Selection patterns and behavioural variation between these communities have been extensively studied in the Taï National Park, allowing us to adjust our investigation to the outcomes of that research [14,15,[41][42][43][44]54,55]. By taking into account previous findings we are able to tailor our methods to new challenges without repeating investigations.…”

Section: Materials and Methods (A) Study Communitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Only the discovery of tool use in wild chimpanzees forced them to revise the definition of tools [7]. With the emergence of multiple research sites across Africa, it became apparent that chimpanzees exhibit a diverse and regionally specific repertoire of extractive foraging tools, including specialized tool kits, tools used for termite and ant fishing, nut cracking, bone marrow probes, stick brushes for honey extraction and spears for hunting [8][9][10][11], reflecting the cultural variety of tool behaviour [9,[12][13][14]. Most tools used by non-human primates are made of organic materials and therefore cannot be used for investigations of past behaviour as preservation is irrevocably compromised.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Use-wear analysis might be able to shed light into the functional aspects of percussive tools of human and non-human species [24,25]. Primate archaeology has mainly been used to achieve three different goals: first to uncover the behaviour of unhabituated populations that leave artefacts in their home range from which behaviour pattern can be concluded [14,26,27]; second to uncover behaviour of past primate activity [21,28]; and third to detect geographical variations in behaviours that have been directly observed in one population [14,[29][30][31]. Besides detecting spatial distribution of behaviour traits in certain populations, an archaeological approach can also be used to follow temporal variation in the presence of behavioural variants within populations, as has been shown in some instances for our ancestors [32].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Chimpanzees in the wild are known to use natural stone and wooden hammers to crack open various nut species [14,30,[36][37][38][39][40]. Nut-cracking is a classic percussion behaviour whereby a nut is placed on a hard surface and a hammer is used to pound it until the nut breaks open.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nut-cracking is a classic percussion behaviour whereby a nut is placed on a hard surface and a hammer is used to pound it until the nut breaks open. Stone hammers have been investigated to uncover the geographical extent of their use [14] as well as variations in the nut-cracking techniques [14,29]. Chimpanzees select pounding tools conditionally, taking multiple factors into account.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Primate archaeology reveals cultural transmission in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus)

Luncz

Wittig

Boesch

2015

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Recovering evidence of past human activities enables us to recreate behaviour where direct observations are missing. Here, we apply archaeological methods to further investigate cultural transmission processes in percussive tool use among neighbouring chimpanzee communities in the Taï National Park, Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa. Differences in the selection of nut-cracking tools between neighbouring groups are maintained over time, despite frequent female transfer, which leads to persistent cultural diversity between chimpanzee groups. Through the recovery of used tools in the suggested natal territory of immigrants, we have been able to reconstruct the tool material selection of females prior to migration. In combination with direct observations of tool selection of local residents and immigrants after migration, we uncovered temporal changes in tool selection for immigrating females. After controlling for ecological differences between territories of immigrants and residents our data suggest that immigrants abandoned their previous tool preference and adopted the pattern of their new community, despite previous personal proficiency of the same foraging task. Our study adds to the growing body of knowledge on the importance of conformist tendencies in animals.

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Section: Materials and Methods (A) Study Communitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Primate archaeology reveals cultural transmission in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus)

Luncz

Wittig

Boesch

2015

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

Self Cite

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Shadows on a changing landscape: Comparing nesting patterns of hominids and chimpanzees since their last common ancestor

Sept

1998

Am. J. Primatol.

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Studying the evolution of nesting behavior within the human–chimpanzee clade is problematic because evidence is sparse and difficult to interpret. Lacking a fossil or archaeological record for proto‐chimpanzees, reconstructions of the antecedents of modern chimp nesting patterns can be reconstructed only from careful studies of variation in current chimpanzee and bonobo nesting patterns within the context of spatial and temporal landscape parameters. The ethology of nesting also provides an important frame of reference for reconstructions of early hominid nesting behavior. If the contemporary contrast between human and chimpanzee nesting patterns is seen as an evolutionary dichotomy, then African prehistoric landmarks that mark the origin of this split might include bipedalism and the origins of the hominidae, the first stone tools and the origins of Homo, the developmental and behavioral adaptations of Homo ergaster, shifts in Late Acheulian settlement patterns, and the origins of anatomically modern humans and the Middle Stone Age. The issue of whether Early Stone Age archaeological sites were used for nesting is unresolved because potential markers of such behavior, such as hearths, structures, or bedding, are not unambiguously recognizable in the archaeological record until the Middle Stone Age. Am. J. Primatol. 46:85–101, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

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