Chimpanzee culture 'confirmed'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4166756.stm

It suggests that the common ancestor of chimps and humans, living some four to six million years ago, probably also had a desire to conform - the hallmark of human culture.

"If both species have elements of culture, it is highly likely the ancient ancestor had too," said co-author Dr Victoria Horner, "so culture probably has a deep-rooted ancient origin."

[cookie_365]

I don't understand this. It says there were two different groups. So why should it be a surprise that the group whose member learned how to get the food one way uses this method, and the other uses the other?

Or was it a single group of chimps that was split in two before the training and then combined back into the original group?

Originally Posted by cookie_365

So why should it be a surprise that the group whose member learned how to get the food one way uses this method, and the other uses the other?

The surprise was that the apes copied from the member that had been taught how to access the food. i.e. they didn't try to invent their own solution.
The suggestion being that they 'conformed' to the original template - i.e. the method brought into the group.

Originally Posted by cookie_365

Or was it a single group of chimps that was split in two before the training and then combined back into the original group?

That's not really clear, is it? However, I suspect they kept the groups separate, as mixing them would have confused the issue.

I'm not so sure this is all that ground-breaking, because is copying others really a mark of 'culture'? Particularly when it comes to getting to food - because there is an imperative to feed, the quickest and easiest way will be used. Once you've been shown a sure-fire way, that is easily the quickest and easiest, since anything else would take time and effort to devise. Time better spent munching on the food you just got using the tried and tested method.

[danielf]

There's a bit more here:

http://www.nature.com/news/2005/0508...050815-12.html

Once trained, the animals were returned to their social groups. As expected, most of the peers used the same technique as the one they observed from the trained chimp. Animals that didn't have an example to follow simply couldn't get the grape out.

Some animals did spontaneously switch from one behaviour to the other when they tried to retrieve the grape, figuring out the alternative method themselves. But two months later, most animals had switched back to the majority behaviour in their group.

Whiten points out that even animals who initially poked - a behavior more natural for chimpanzees than lifting - reverted to lifting eventually. "This is an even stronger social learning tendency than we went out to test for," Whiten says. "It's very exciting. We were surprised."

They were returned to their separate groups. I also think that the conclusions are a little far-fetched. I'm not sure if this shows a 'desire to conform'. Interesting stuff though...

[clarie]

I find chimps fascinating. If anyone wants to know more about them and how they learn and develop as social groups, there is a great programme called 'Monkey Business' on the Animal Planet.


They are fascinating creatures - they have very complex rituals and learned behavioural patterns. I saw one episode that showed a 'second-in-command' in a group of chimps who had disobeyed the alpha male having to 'apologise' to him by kissing his hand, and by bowing before him. I was fascinated.

This could just be conjecture on the part of the producers of the show. Nonetheless many chimp experts agree that chimps kiss, and bow before one another to show submissivity.