They didn't exactly reinvent the wheel. A new study has found behavioral differences between populations of chimpanzees. Are they really cultured?
Sanjida O'Connell, Haaretz, IOL
In his book "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" Douglas Adams writes: "Man has always assumed that he is more intelligent than dolphins because he has achieved so much - the wheel, New York, wars and more - while all the dolphins ever did was laugh about it in the water and enjoy life. The dolphins, on the other hand, have always believed that they are much more intelligent than humans - exactly for the same reasons."
The chimps didn't exactly invent the wheel or New York, but they waged a kind of war with each other. Unlike the dolphins, they were not busy enjoying life - but becoming more civilized.
The journal Nature published last weekend an international study in which researchers observed, in a period of time equal to 151 years, seven different populations of chimpanzees throughout Africa. It turns out that there are certain behavioral differences between the populations, which are not only related to the different physical conditions within each territory. According to the researchers, these differences are cultural and not necessarily genetic.
History has already gotten to know many types of human "culture". Starting with humans who used to cut out the beating hearts of their friends, to those who mapped the sky and predicted the path that a comet would take. But is it even possible to discuss animal culture and human culture in the same breath? Richard Wrangham, Frans de Waal and Bill McGraw, the three editors of the book "Chimpanzee Cultures", define culture as "change from group to group; personal copying of cultural characteristics from others; And often - passing on the culture to the young."
There is no doubt that it is possible to distinguish different patterns of behavior in battle
Different populations of chimpanzees. For example, in 24 of the 32 known groups in nature, chimpanzees use tools - such as thin branches to trap termites, leaves as napkins and stones as tools
Weapon. The chimpanzees who live in the far west of Africa use stones as a club and an anvil to crack nuts; The chimpanzees in the Midwest and East of the continent do not crack nuts at all.
The differences are not due to environmental changes: nuts, hammers and anvils made of stone and wood are also available in the Loup area - however, the chimpanzees who live in the district do not crack nuts. Another intriguing example of tool use came up during McGraw's observation: a female chimpanzee tied fur stripped from another monkey and wore it on her head. Is this the latest hot fad in the Mahalla area?
Chimpanzees also differ from each other in the sounds they make. The researchers believe that each population is characterized by a certain "accent" or "dialect". The research thus provides the most detailed evidence to date, that animals adapt behavior patterns to themselves by observation and imitation, and leave these patterns to their neighbors and offspring.
But there is some disagreement about how the chimpanzees
passing on these apparent cultural characteristics. Humans teach their children actively, or live by rules
certain, whether they are written in the Bible or whether they appear in the program
a certain computer. In contrast, the scientists know only examples
Counts to the situation where one chimpanzee actively guides another chimpanzee.
Young chimpanzees can indeed acquire some skills by imitating adults, but several recently published studies indicate that, in animals, imitation is not as direct as it sometimes seems. For example, in an experiment conducted by Prof. Michael Tomslow (from Emory University, Atlanta) they demonstrated to orangutans and children how to get candy by using a rake. The children imitated the demons in submission; The orangutans were more successful than the children in getting the candy, but they did it in their own way. The monkeys probably understood the goal, and the connection between the tool and achieving it, but they lacked the skill to accurately imitate the models (or they didn't need it). Tomslow calls this behavior simulation, not imitation.
If culture is defined as behavioral variations among a particular species, there are some good examples in other animals. Crows are perhaps unusual: in Japan they learned to crack nuts in a relatively innovative way - by using cars. They drop nuts on the road before crossings, the cars crush the shell under their wheels. Then, when the light at the traffic light changes, the crows emerge and collect the nuts. It is not impossible that the method was learned through trial and error, after crows accidentally dropped nuts in front of moving cars.
Over the years, humans' definitions of themselves and animals have become more and more narrow. And yet, researchers claim that animals are different from humans because they do not make tools or speak language. Although the animals have not yet produced air hammers or stealth bombers, some use simple technical tools. On the subject of language, researchers are now debating whether animals can learn grammar rules after it was shown that some primates can communicate using sign language and use a touch-screen computer to get candy.
It is very possible that most 15-year-olds would not be considered human if the human species were defined by using the rules of grammar. Culture is one of the few remaining barriers. That is why it is necessary to find out if researchers usually study the intelligence of primates, and not of birds for example, because they assume that since they are relatives - they are more intelligent. We may have overlooked cultural characteristics among other animals. Another question is, if chimpanzees really have a culture.
Chimpanzees diverged from the genealogy leading to the human species 6-3 million years ago. Since then, man has evolved because of his ability to pass on his cultural heritage. The chimpanzees still enjoy life in the forest, killing each other from time to time and eating with sticks and stones, but there will never be an ape version of Gandhi, gently telling us that Western civilization might be a good idea.
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