Here, we measured (i) variation, (ii) durability and (iii) expansion of the GHC behaviour in four chimpanzee communities that do not systematically differ in their genetic backgrounds and live in similar ecological environments. To date, however, the validity of this claim and the extent to which this social behaviour varies between groups is unclear.
The Fongoli chimpanzees also invented a new use for stick tools: They ram them into holes in trees to bludgeon and disable unwitting bush babies, tiny primates which then become lunch.Grooming handclasp (GHC) behaviour was originally advocated as the first evidence of social culture in chimpanzees owing to the finding that some populations engaged in the behaviour and others do not. They sit in pools of water to cool off in hot weather (chimpanzees normally avoid even knee-deep water) and sleep in caves to avoid the baking heat. At Fongoli in southeastern Senegal, a team led by primatologist Jill Pruetz of Iowa State University has recorded chimpanzees doing things that we had not suspected they would do. Each study offers new frontiers of research. It’s a tremendous achievement by a small number of very dedicated individuals that so many studies have been carried out, despite hardships of funding, local political turmoil, and the general difficulties of field research. It takes many years and enormous effort to maintain a field study of chimpanzees for enough years to get a payoff of new observations. There are now seven field studies of chimpanzees that have stretched beyond 25 years. These included both foraging and social traditions. They identified 39 behaviors across seven sites that appeared to be culturally and not ecologically induced.
Chimpanzee hand groom clasp full#
Andrews University compiled the full complement of cultural variation across Africa, using information contributed by co-authors from each of the seven longest-term studies. In the fourth decade of chimpanzee field research, Andrew Whiten of St. As the number of long-term field studies of chimpanzees grew, so did the scope of cultural diversity across Africa. In some forests, chimpanzees use small sticks to probe into tree bark for ants in other forests they don’t, even though the same ants are readily available. At Gombe, the grooming partners grasp branches instead of hands. Two Mahale chimpanzees clasp right hands above their heads while their left hands groom their partners. Most cultural behaviors in chimpanzees seem quite trivial. There has been a tidal wave of awareness of cultural behavior since the late 1990s. Today, the cultural behavior exhibited by Gombe chimpanzees is just one of many cultural variants observed in other long-term studies across equatorial Africa. As researchers established new field studies, they also discovered new chimpanzee cultures, each with its own unique set of traditions. He observed hunting behavior just as researchers at Gombe and Mahale had, but with more cooperation among the hunters.Īs observations on wild chimpanzees accumulated from many sites over many years, a picture of rich cultural variation emerged. In 1979, Christophe Boesch observed chimpanzees in West Africa collecting stones and sticks from the forest floor, carrying them to the foot of large nut trees, and using their tools to hammer open hard-shelled fruits. Other multi-decade field studies followed: in the nearby Mahale Mountains, led by Toshisada Nishida and in Bossou in the Republic of Guinea, established by Yukimaru Sugiyama. As the research stretched from years into decades, Goodall’s work provided the kind of key information on chimpanzee society that only comes with long-term longitudinal research. She made historic discoveries about tool use, meat-eating, mother-infant bonds, reproduction, and violence in chimpanzee society. Jane Goodall’s pioneering study in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, began in 1960, well over a half-century ago. There’s a new chimpanzee in the world, and it turns out to be one we’ve known all along.
0 kommentar(er)
