The Influence of Ecology on Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) Cultural Behavior: A Case Study of Five Ugandan Chimpanzee Communities
Thibaud Gruber, Kevin B. Potts, Christopher Krupenye, Maisie-Rose Byrne, Constance Mackworth-Young, William C. McGrew, Vernon Reynolds & Klaus Zuberbühler
| Résumé |
The influence of ecology on the development of behavioral traditions
in animals is controversial, particularly for chimpanzees (Pan
troglodytes), for which it is difficult to rule out environmental
influences as a cause of widely observed community-specific
behavioral differences. Here, we investigated 3 potential scenarios
that could explain the natural variation in a key extractive tool
behavior, "fluid-dip," among several communities of chimpanzees of
the Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii subspecies in Uganda. We
compared data from previous behavioral ecological studies, field
experiments, and long-term records of chimpanzee tool-using
behavior. We focused on the quality of the available food, dietary
preferences, and tool sets of 5 different communities, and carried
out a standardized field experiment to test systematically for the
presence of fluid-dip in 4 of these communities. Our results
revealed major differences in habitat, available diet, and tool use
behavior between geographically close communities. However, these
differences in ecology and feeding behavior failed to explain the
differences in tool use across communities. We conclude that
ecological variables may lead both to innovation and loss of
behavioral traditions, while contributing little to their
transmission within the community. Instead, as soon as a behavioral
tradition is established, sociocognitive factors likely play a key
maintenance role as long as the ecological conditions do not change
sufficiently for the tradition to be abandoned. |
| Citation | Gruber, T., Potts, K. B., Krupenye, C., Byrne, M. R., Mackworth-Young, C., McGrew, W. C., Reynolds, V., & Zuberbühler, K. (2012). The Influence of Ecology on Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) Cultural Behavior: A Case Study of Five Ugandan Chimpanzee Communities. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 126(4), 446-457. |
| Type | Article de périodique (Anglais) |
| Date de publication | 2012 |
| Nom du périodique | Journal of Comparative Psychology |
| Volume | 126 |
| Numéro | 4 |
| Pages | 446-457 |