Maternal influence on the development of nut‐cracking skills in the chimpanzees of the Taï forest, Côte d'Ivoire (<i>Pan troglodytes verus</i>)

Estienne, Vittoria; Cohen, Heather; Wittig, Roman M.; Boesch, Christophe

doi:10.1002/ajp.23022

Cited by 34 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…nut-cracking performance (14). In the Goualougo Triangle, Republic of Congo, transfers of termite-fishing probes from skilled to less-competent conspecifics satisfy functional criteria for teaching (17): transfers occur in the presence of a learner; they impose a cost on tool donors, in the form of reduced tool use and feeding; and they provide a benefit to tool recipients, who show increased tool use and feeding after receiving a tool.…”

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In an experiment with human children, success at solving tasks of increasing difficulty varied with the number of prosocial acts received, suggesting that prosocial helping could facilitate social transmission of complex tasks (2). Chimpanzees have been observed transferring tools in numerous contexts in the wild (11,15,14,18,(29)(30)(31). However, no standardized comparisons have been conducted to evaluate whether and how this form of scaffolding varies between populations and across tasks of differing complexity.…”

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Skilled tool users may sometimes more actively scaffold (sensu ref. 14) the development of novices' tool skills. At Taï Forest, Côte d'Ivoire, mothers were observed actively intervening to assist offspring during nut-cracking, a complex task for which full mastery is not reached until adulthood (15,16).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Teaching varies with task complexity in wild chimpanzees

Musgrave

Lonsdorf

Morgan

et al. 2019

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Cumulative culture is a transformative force in human evolution, but the social underpinnings of this capacity are debated. Identifying social influences on how chimpanzees acquire tool tasks of differing complexity may help illuminate the evolutionary origins of technology in our own lineage. Humans routinely transfer tools to novices to scaffold their skill development. While tool transfers occur in wild chimpanzees and fulfill criteria for teaching, it is unknown whether this form of helping varies between populations and across tasks. Applying standardized methods, we compared tool transfers during termite gathering by chimpanzees in the Goualougo Triangle, Republic of Congo, and in Gombe, Tanzania. At Goualougo, chimpanzees use multiple, different tool types sequentially, choose specific raw materials, and perform modifications that improve tool efficiency, which could make it challenging for novices to manufacture suitable tools. Termite gathering at Gombe involves a single tool type, fishing probes, which can be manufactured from various materials. Multiple measures indicated population differences in tool-transfer behavior. The rate of transfers and probability of transfer upon request were significantly higher at Goualougo, while resistance to transfers was significantly higher at Gombe. Active transfers of tools in which possessors moved to facilitate possession change upon request occurred only at Goualougo, where they were the most common transfer type. At Gombe, tool requests were typically refused. We suggest that these population differences in tool-transfer behavior may relate to task complexity and that active helping plays an enhanced role in the cultural transmission of complex technology in wild apes.

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Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Teaching varies with task complexity in wild chimpanzees

Musgrave

Lonsdorf

Morgan

et al. 2019

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…However, our study also consisted of various social learning test conditions-including one that demonstrated the necessary action patterns for nut-cracking to the chimpanzees. This condition allowed for the possibility of action copying being a requirement of the behaviour, as has recently been claimed (Estienne et al, 2019). Even so, nut-cracking was not acquired by the subjects.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…Indeed, recent research in wild chimpanzees shows an exponential increase in nut-cracking between 5 and 6 years of age, though the first signs were observed in 3-4-year-old individuals (Estienne et al, 2019) in line with the concept of maturation (Corp & Byrne, 2002). This finding suggests a certain level of developmental prowess required to express nut-cracking, perhaps somewhere between maturation effects of the body and the brain.…”

Section: Sensitive Learning Periodmentioning

confidence: 82%

Testing the individual and social learning abilities of task-naïve captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes sp.) in a nut-cracking task

Neadle

Bandini

Tennie

2020

PeerJ

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Nut-cracking is often cited as one of the most complex behaviours observed in wild chimpanzees. However, the cognitive mechanisms behind its acquisition are still debated. The current null hypothesis is that the form of nut-cracking behaviour relies on variants of social learning, with some researchers arguing, more precisely, that copying variants of social learning mechanisms are necessary. However, to date, very few experiments have directly investigated the potentially sufficient role of individual learning in explaining the behavioural form of nut-cracking. Despite this, the available data provides some evidence for the spontaneous acquisition of nut-cracking by chimpanzees; later group acquisition was then found to be at least facilitated by (unspecified) variants of social learning. The latter findings are in line with both suggested hypotheses, i.e., that copying social learning is required and that other (non-copying) social learning mechanisms are at play. Here we present the first study which focused (initially) on the role of individual learning for the acquisition of the nut-cracking behavioural form in chimpanzees. We tested task-naïve chimpanzees (N = 13) with an extended baseline condition to examine whether the behaviour would emerge spontaneously. After the baseline condition (which was unsuccessful), we tested for the role of social learning by providing social information in a step-wise fashion, culminating in a full action demonstration of nut-cracking by a human demonstrator (this last condition made it possible for the observers to copy all actions underlying the behaviour). Despite the opportunities to individually and/or socially learn nut-cracking, none of the chimpanzees tested here cracked nuts using tools in any of the conditions in our study; thus, providing no conclusive evidence for either competing hypothesis. We conclude that this failure was the product of an interplay of factors, including behavioural conservatism and the existence of a potential sensitive learning period for nut-cracking in chimpanzees. The possibility remains that nut-cracking is a behaviour that chimpanzees can individually learn. However, this behaviour might only be acquired when chimpanzees are still inside their sensitive learning period, and when ecological and developmental conditions allow for it. The possibility remains that nut-cracking is an example of a culture dependent trait in non-human great apes. Recommendations for future research projects to address this question are considered.

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The ontogeny of termite gathering among chimpanzees in the Goualougo Triangle, Republic of Congo

Musgrave

Lonsdorf

Morgan

et al. 2020

American J Phys Anthropol

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Objectives: Acquiring tool-assisted foraging skills can potentially improve dietary quality and increase fitness for wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). In contrast to chimpanzees in East and West Africa, chimpanzees in the Congo Basin use tool sets and brush-tipped fishing probes to gather termites. We investigated the ontogeny of these tool skills in chimpanzees of the Goualougo Triangle, Republic of Congo, and compared it to that for chimpanzees at Gombe, Tanzania. We assessed whether chimpanzees acquired simple tool behaviors and single tool use before more complex actions and sequential use of multiple tool types. Materials and Methods: Using a longitudinal approach, we scored remote video footage to document the acquisition of termite-gathering critical elements for 25 immature chimpanzees at Goualougo. Results: All chimpanzees termite fished by 2.9 years but did not manufacture brushtipped probes until an average of 4.3 years. Acquisition of sequential tool use extended into juvenility and adolescence. While we did not detect significant sex differences, most critical elements except tool manufacture were acquired slightly earlier by females. Discussion: These findings contrast with Gombe, where chimpanzees learn to both use and make fishing probes between ages 1.5-3.5 and acquire the complete task by age 5.5. Differences between sites could reflect tool material selectivity and design complexity, the challenge of sequential tool behaviors, and strength requirements of puncturing subterranean termite nests at Goualougo. These results illustrate how task complexity may influence the timing and sequence of skill acquisition, improving models of the ontogeny of tool behavior among early hominins who likely used complex, perishable technologies.

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Maternal influence on the development of nut‐cracking skills in the chimpanzees of the Taï forest, Côte d'Ivoire (Pan troglodytes verus)

Cited by 34 publications

References 60 publications

Teaching varies with task complexity in wild chimpanzees

Teaching varies with task complexity in wild chimpanzees

Testing the individual and social learning abilities of task-naïve captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes sp.) in a nut-cracking task

The ontogeny of termite gathering among chimpanzees in the Goualougo Triangle, Republic of Congo

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