Chimpanzees Teach Tool Use by Modeling and Transferring Tools, Study Says
A new paper in Frontiers in Psychology says adult chimpanzees deliberately model tool use and then hand tools to young chimps, a form of teaching that may help offspring extract difficult foods. Mothers appear to be the main models and teachers, researchers say.
The paper's co-author, Andreu Sánchez-Megías, a graduate student at the University of Barcelona and the Jane Goodall Institute Spain in Senegal, said receiving food and tools from experienced individuals may help chimpanzees learn to use tools to obtain otherwise inaccessible food. “Tool transfers thus appear to be a form of teaching, together with observation and supervised practice,” he said. “It appears that mothers are the main models and teachers for young chimpanzees in this manner.”
The finding adds to a long-running scientific discussion about tool use. Tool use was once thought to be one of the defining features of humans, Ars Technica reported, although Charles Darwin observed chimpanzees using stones to crack nuts in 1871. In 1960, the late primatologist Jane Goodall observed a chimpanzee named David Greybeard bend a twig, strip off its leaves, and use it to spoon termites out of a nest and into his mouth.
When Goodall's mentor, Louis Leakey, learned of the behavior, he said, “Now we must redefine ‘tool,’ redefine ‘man,’ or accept chimpanzees as humans.” Since then, chimpanzees have been observed making sponges out of leaves to soak up liquids, shaping sticks to collect algae, and sharpening rudimentary spears for hunting, according to Ars Technica.
The new paper focuses on how this learned behavior is passed down from adults to offspring through social learning. According to the paper, adult chimps deliberately model the behavior before turning their tools over to the youngsters, who then mimic the same motions. Food or tool transfer may help chimpanzees learn to use technology to extract difficult foods, the authors write.
The study adds to observations that chimpanzees acquire tool-use skills in social contexts. The paper states that receiving food and tools from experienced individuals may be part of that process, alongside observation and supervised practice. It also states that mothers appear to be the primary models and teachers for young chimpanzees in this manner.