The knowns and unknowns of chimpanzee culture
Thibaud Gruber, Vernon Reynolds & Klaus Zuberbühler
| Abstract |
Claims of culture in chimpanzees appeared soon after the launch of
the first field studies in africa.1 The notion of chimpanzee
'material cultures' was coined,2 and this was followed by a first
formal comparison, which revealed an astonishing degree of
behavioural diversity between the different study communities,
mainly in terms of tool use.3 Although this behavioural diversity
is still undisputed, the question of chimpanzee cultures has
remained controversial.4-6 The debate has less to do with the
definition of culture (most animal behaviour researchers accept the
notion for behaviour that is 'transmitted repeatedly through social
or observational learning to become a population-level
characteristic' 3), but more with whether some key criteria are
met. |
| Citation | Gruber, T., Reynolds, V., & Zuberbühler, K. (2010). The knowns and unknowns of chimpanzee culture. Communicative & Integrative Biology, 3(3), 221-3. |
| Type | Journal article (English) |
| Date of appearance | 2010 |
| Journal | Communicative & Integrative Biology |
| Volume | 3 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 221-3 |