2015/03/04 by Thibaud Gruber, Timothée Poisot, Klaus Zuberbühler +2 · 3 citations
Psychology · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Primate Behavior and Ecology #Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior #Animal Behavior and Reproduction
paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/19420889.2015.1017164
openalex publication_date 2015/03/04 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
For years, the animal culture debate has been dominated by the puzzling absence of direct evidence for social transmission of behavioral innovations in the flagship species of animal culture, the common chimpanzee. Although social learning of novel behaviors has been documented in captivity, critics argue that these findings lack ecological validity and therefore may not be relevant for understanding the evolution of culture. For the wild, it is possible that group-specific behavioral differences emerge because group members respond individually to unspecified environmental differences, rather than learning from each other. In a recent paper, we used social network analyses in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) to provide direct evidence for social transmission of a behavioral innovation, moss-sponging, to extract water from a tree hole. Here, we discuss the implications of our findings and how our new methodological approach could help future studies of social learning and culture in wild apes.