![]() ![]() This is the essence of culture, and it means that individuals and groups end up behaving in varied ways. As a result, traditions and habits can spread in non-genetic ways. Many previous studies have shown that apes (and probably even monkeys) can imitate and learn from each other. ![]() De Waal also says, “The finding is consistent with culture spreading from group to group by female migration, which may be based on learning but still would produce a correlation with genetics.” For a start, both he and de Waal note that you’d get the same results if you looked at humans, and no one would think less of our culture as a result. Nor does Langergraber’s work downplay the role of culture in explaining the varied behaviours of chimps. “However,” adds Langergraber, “it is possible that groups differ in the frequency of that lead (however indirectly) to differences in the propensity and predispositions for individuals to fish for ants.” They might be more dextrous, for example, or like the flavour of ants. “No one would assume a gene for ant-fishing in the chimpanzee in the same way that no one would assume that some humans have a knife & fork gene and others a chopstick gene,” says de Waal. After all, many of the behaviours that have fallen under the banner of chimp culture are complex traits that are unlikely to be genetically determined. These new results don’t mean that chimp cultures are all “in their genes”. It is wonderful data, and makes the culture story all the more fascinating.” “The data now indicate that chimpanzees, which are genetically incredibly diverse, have an overlap between genetic and cultural diversity that will need to be addressed. “ is not dismissive of the culture concept, but adds a complication to the picture,” he says. And only a small number of actions varied between groups that were genetically similar.įrans de Waal, a renowned chimp researcher from Emory University, praises Langergraber’s work. Groups of chimps with starkly differing cultures are also genetically distant and the greater the gap between their behaviours, the greater the gap between their genes. Langergraber found that the differences in their genes were mirrored by differences in their behaviour. For each one, he noted whether they performed any of 39 different behaviours, and he sequenced DNA from their mitochondria (small energy factories in animal cells that have their own small accessory genome). ![]() Langergraber studied almost 250 chimps, who came from 9 groups, including 3 from the west African subspecies and 6 from the east African one. Kevin Langergraber at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology has found that much of this variation in behaviour could have a genetic influence. But a new study complicates our understanding of chimp cultures. They stem from the readiness of great apes to ape one another and pick up behaviours from their peers. These behaviours have been described as cultural traditions they’re the chimp equivalent of the musical styles, fashion trends and social rules of humans. Some drum on branches to get attention and others rip leaves between their teeth. Some use sticks as hunting spears and others use them to fish for ants. Some use sticks to extract honey from beehives, while others prefer leaves. If you watch chimpanzees from different parts of Africa, you’ll see them doing very different things.
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