Culture is a set of specific and repetitive patterns of socially learned behaviors of creative nature within a community (Boesch, 2003). While we humans possess this trait, we are not unique. Experts have observed behaviors that are exclusive to each animal species, and in very specific series of patterns where social learning represents a kind of secondary hereditary system that interacts with cumulative cultural changes - much like humans and their traditions.
Behavioral traditions that imply a particular innovation have been observed across chimpanzee groups. One example is the use of rocks to crack-open nuts, similar to our use of forks. Eventually, if the innovation turns out to be useful, it will become a common behavior of all the members of the group and passed down from generation to generation (like my abuela’s recipes). If its members don’t communicate with other nearby groups, this innovation won’t be transmitted to other regions. However, this is uncommon due to the exchange of females among groups of Chimpanzees - a very effective way to enhance social learning and its transmission to other groups while promoting variation across communities (similar to interracial marriage, for example, where each partner brings - to both core and extended families - different ways of doing things).
By extension, multiple variants which include language, clothing, food, etc. (and their many products) are seen on chimpanzees as further evidenced by the members of Sonso. The Sonsos have used a kind of container made of leaves to extract water from tree trunks. And on November 14, 2011, it was noted how the alpha male used a kind of sponge formed by moss to extract water from a certain place, while he was observed by the dominant female. Soon, the innovation of the alpha male to extract water was adopted by other members of that community, although not by all, showing the process of cultural transmission through imitative learning in the chimpanzee community (Gruber et al. 2011).
On October 2016, Musgrave and her research team studied how chimpanzees use specific types of herbs to create termite-fishing probes. Offsprings learned this technique through the transmission of knowledge from generation to generation. Mothers passed the fishing probe to their offspring in response to begging and, through these transfers and interactions, the mother may have taught them which materials to use. Musgrave’s findings indicate that the use of active teaching is not unique to humans (Musgrave, 2016).
It’s amazing how our ancestors used social learning to create the cultural complexity that we now possess. It’s worth remembering that non-human primates, most notably chimpanzees, represent quite a unique source of information and that culture is not limited to human beings - it’ found throughout the rest of the animal kingdom. We can learn much about the forces that have driven the evolution of our own culture from the analysis of other species.
Stephanie Musgrave - Tool transfers are a form of teaching among chimpanzees
Bonobo builds a fire and toasts marshmallows [BBC]
What do you think? Is culture unique to humans? Comment below.
Thanks for reading.
[BBC] (2014 March 16). Bonobo builds a fire and toasts marshmallows - Monkey Planet: Preview-BBC One [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQcN7lHSD5Y
[Washington University in St. Louis] (2016 October 12). Wild Chimpanzee Mothers Teach Young [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V41YbSg8NNQ
Boesch C. 2003. Is culture a golden barrier between human and chimpanzee? Evolutionary Anthropology 12:82-91. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/doi/10.1002/evan.10106/epdf
Gruber, Thibaud et al. (2011). Community-specific evaluation of tool affordances in wild chimpanzees. https://www.nature.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/articles/srep00128#abstract
Musgrave, S. et al. (2016 October 11) Tool transfers are a form of teaching among chimpanzees. Sci. Rep. 6, 34783; doi: 10.1038/srep34783. https://www.nature.com/articles/srep34783
Whiten A. (2005). The second inheritance system of chimpanzees and humans. Nature 437: 52-55. https://www.nature.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/articles/nature04023
