Leaf-tool use for drinking water by wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): acquisition patterns and handedness (original) (raw)

Abstract

Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are known to make and use a variety of tools, activities which require them to employ their hands in a skilful manner. The learning process underlying the acquisition of tool-using skills, and the degree of laterality evident in both immature and mature performers are investigated here focusing on the use of leaves for drinking water by members of the Bossou chimpanzee community in Guinea, West Africa. In addition, comparisons are drawn between the present findings and our previous data on the cracking of oil-palm nuts (Elaeis guineensis) using stone tools by members of the same community. The use of leaves for drinking water emerges approximately 2 years earlier than nut cracking, at around the age of 1.5 years, although the manufacture of leaf tools begins only at 3.5 years of age. In addition, in clear contrast with nut cracking, the majority of chimpanzees are ambidextrous in their use of leaves, with only certain individuals showing a bias for one hand. We discuss possible explanations for the earlier emergence and increased ambidextrousness that characterises leaf-tool use in comparison with other forms of tool use by wild chimpanzees. In summary, our results provide the first detailed description of the acquisition process underlying leaf-tool use along with the accompanying patterns of handedness, while also being the first to provide comparisons of the development of different forms of tool use within the same wild chimpanzee population.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Direction National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique, République de Guinée, for permission to conduct field work at Bossou. The research was supported by Grants in Aid for scientific research from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture of Japan (grants 07102010, 12002009, 10CE2005 and the 21COE programme). DB was financially supported by the Royal Society. We would like to express our gratitude to the following people who have been involved in research at Bossou over the years and thus contributed to the data reported here: Gen Yamakoshi, Rikako Tonooka, Noriko Inoue-Nakamura, Tatyana Humle, Hiroyuki Takemoto, Satoshi Hirata, Gaku Ohashi, Makoto Shimada, Takao Fushimi, Osamu Sakura, Masako Myowa-Yamakoshi, Maura Celli, Tomomi Ochiai, Misato Hayashi and Susana Carvalho. We are also grateful to Yukimaru Sugiyama who began the study of wild chimpanzees at Bossou, to Guanou Goumy, Tino Camara, Paquile Cherif, and Pascal Goumy, Marcel Doré, Bonifas Zogbila, Jiles Doré and Henry Gbelegbe for assistance in the field. Three anonymous referees provided valuable comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

1. CRIA, Centre for Research in Anthropology, Lisbon, Portugal
   Cláudia Sousa
2. Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Social and Humane Sciences, New University of Lisbon, Avenida de Berna, 26-C, 1069-061, Lisbon, Portugal
   Cláudia Sousa
3. Animal Behaviour Research Group, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
   Dora Biro
4. Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
   Tetsuro Matsuzawa

Authors

1. Cláudia Sousa
2. Dora Biro
3. Tetsuro Matsuzawa

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Correspondence toCláudia Sousa.

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This contribution is part of the Supplement Issue “The Chimpanzee Mind" (Matsuzawa 2009).

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Sousa, C., Biro, D. & Matsuzawa, T. Leaf-tool use for drinking water by wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): acquisition patterns and handedness.Anim Cogn 12 (Suppl 1), 115–125 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-009-0278-0

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• Received: 28 April 2009
• Revised: 06 August 2009
• Accepted: 08 August 2009
• Published: 21 August 2009
• Issue date: October 2009
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-009-0278-0

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