For decades, researchers have established that chimpanzees, like humans, transmit cultural knowledge, such as tool use, across generations. While human cultures have developed dramatically, transitioning from the Stone Age to the Space Age, chimpanzee cultures appear to have remained relatively static. However, some scientists studying wild chimpanzees challenge this notion, arguing that complex tool use-such as sequences involving multiple tools-may reflect cumulative cultural development.
Genetic pathways to cultural insight
Lead author Cassandra Gunasekaram, from the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Zurich, explains, "As most chimpanzee tools, such as sticks and stems, are perishable, there are few records of their history to confirm this hypothesis-unlike human cases such as the evolution of the wheel or computer technology."
A multidisciplinary team of anthropologists, primatologists, physicists, and geneticists from universities in Zurich, St. Andrews, Barcelona, Cambridge, Konstanz, and Vienna employed genetic analyses to uncover links between chimpanzee populations. Their research aimed to trace how cultural behaviors have been shared and preserved over millennia, leveraging genetic evidence to explore chimpanzee cultural history.
Early glimpses of cumulative culture
Researchers analyzed genetic markers indicating connections between 35 chimpanzee populations across Africa. They compared these genetic links with reported cultural behaviors, including foraging strategies involving no tools, simple tools, and sophisticated toolsets. The study revealed significant insights into how the most complex behaviors were distributed.
Toolset evolution through generations
Gunasekaram describes a complex example from chimpanzees in the Congo region: "They first use a sturdy stick to dig a deep tunnel through hard soil to access an underground termite nest. Then they prepare a 'fishing' probe by crafting a plant stem with a brush-like tip, threading it into the tunnel, and extracting termites."
Professor Andrea Migliano, the study's corresponding author, highlights their findings: "We discovered that the most complex chimpanzee technologies-the use of entire toolsets-are strongly linked across genetically connected populations. This suggests that these advanced technologies were rarely invented and are less likely to be reinvented, indicating they were transmitted between groups."
Female migrations and cultural spread
In chimpanzee societies, young females migrate to new communities to prevent inbreeding, facilitating both gene flow and cultural exchange. The study found that sites with both complex toolsets and simpler behaviors exhibited genetic markers of historical female migration, suggesting cultural innovations spread alongside genetic connections.
"These discoveries offer a compelling new method to demonstrate that chimpanzees possess a cumulative culture, even if it is at an early stage of development," Migliano adds.
Research Report:Population connectivity shapes the distribution and complexity of chimpanzee cumulative culture
Related Links
Department of Evolutionary Anthropology University of Zurich
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