Percussive tool use by Taï Western chimpanzees and Fazenda Boa Vista bearded capuchin monkeys: a comparison

Visalberghi, Elisabetta; Sirianni, Giulia; Fragaszy, Dorothy M.; Boesch, Christophe

doi:10.1098/rstb.2014.0351

Cited by 82 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 81 publications

(243 reference statements)

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“…Wild bearded capuchins and long-tailed macaques are well-known for their regular tooluse, involving highly controlled sequences of percussive actions [e.g., Spagnoletti et al, 2011;Gumert and Malaivijitnond, 2013;Visalberghi et al, 2015]. Orangutans and, to a lesser extent, western lowland gorillas also have been reported to use tools in the wild [Breuer et al, 2005;Meulman and Van Schaik, 2013].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nut‐cracking behaviour in wild‐born, rehabilitated bonobos (Pan paniscus): a comprehensive study of hand‐preference, hand grips and efficiency

Neufuss

Humle

Cremaschi

et al. 2016

American J Primatol

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There has been an enduring interest in primate tool-use and manipulative abilities, most often with the goal of providing insight into the evolution of human manual dexterity, right-hand preference, and what behaviours make humans unique. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are arguably the most well-studied tool-users among non-human primates, and are particularly wellknown for their complex nut-cracking behaviour, which has been documented in several West African populations. However, their sister-taxon, the bonobos (Pan paniscus), rarely engage in even simple tool-use and are not known to nut-crack in the wild. Only a few studies have reported tool-use in captive bonobos, including their ability to crack nuts, but details of this complex tool-use behaviour have not been documented before. Here, we fill this gap with the first comprehensive analysis of bonobo nut-cracking in a natural environment at the Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Eighteen bonobos were studied as they cracked oil palm nuts using stone hammers. Individual bonobos showed exclusive laterality for using the hammerstone and there was a significant group-level right-hand bias. The study revealed 15 hand grips for holding differently sized and weighted hammerstones, 10 of which had not been previously described in the literature. Our findings also demonstrated that bonobos select the most effective hammerstones when nut-cracking. Bonobos are efficient nutcrackers and not that different from the renowned nut-cracking chimpanzees of Bossou, Guinea, which also crack oil palm nuts using stones.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nut‐cracking behaviour in wild‐born, rehabilitated bonobos (Pan paniscus): a comprehensive study of hand‐preference, hand grips and efficiency

Neufuss

Humle

Cremaschi

et al. 2016

American J Primatol

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“…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. However, several primate species are known to use stone pounding tools to access encased food sources [15][16][17][18][19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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“…He concludes that social and individual learning progress step-wise, and interactions between them play an important role in chimpanzee nut-cracking skill acquisition. Visalberghi et al [37] compare nut-cracking tool use in wild capuchin monkeys and chimpanzees. Considering phylogenetic relationships among primates, it appears that percussive technology emerged independently in certain groups of capuchin monkeys, long-tailed monkeys and chimpanzees.…”

Section: Percussive Technology Cultures In Non-human Living Primatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Percussive technology in human evolution: an introduction to a comparative approach in fossil and living primates

Torre

Hirata

2015

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Percussive technology is part of the behavioural suite of several fossil and living primates. Stone Age ancestors used lithic artefacts in pounding activities, which could have been most important in the earliest stages of stone working. This has relevant evolutionary implications, as other primates such as chimpanzees and some monkeys use stone hammer-and-anvil combinations to crack hard-shelled foodstuffs. Parallels between primate percussive technologies and early archaeological sites need to be further explored in order to assess the emergence of technological behaviour in our evolutionary line, and firmly establish bridges between Primatology and Archaeology. What are the anatomical, cognitive and ecological constraints of percussive technology? How common are percussive activities in the Stone Age and among living primates? What is their functional significance? How similar are archaeological percussive tools and those made by non-human primates? This issue of Phil. Trans. addresses some of these questions by presenting case studies with a wide chronological, geographical and disciplinary coverage. The studies presented here cover studies of Brazilian capuchins, captive chimpanzees and chimpanzees in the wild, research on the use of percussive technology among modern humans and recent hunter–gatherers in Australia, the Near East and Europe, and archaeological examples of this behaviour from a million years ago to the Holocene. In summary, the breadth and depth of research compiled here should make this issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B , a landmark step forward towards a better understanding of percussive technology, a unique behaviour shared by some modern and fossil primates.

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Percussive tool use by Taï Western chimpanzees and Fazenda Boa Vista bearded capuchin monkeys: a comparison

Cited by 82 publications

References 81 publications

Nut‐cracking behaviour in wild‐born, rehabilitated bonobos (Pan paniscus): a comprehensive study of hand‐preference, hand grips and efficiency

Nut‐cracking behaviour in wild‐born, rehabilitated bonobos (Pan paniscus): a comprehensive study of hand‐preference, hand grips and efficiency

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

Percussive technology in human evolution: an introduction to a comparative approach in fossil and living primates

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