Abstract
Abstract Most cultural behaviours in primates stem from innovations that are beneficial since they provide access to food or comfort. Innovations that are seemingly purposeless and arbitrary, and nevertheless spread through a social group, are rarer but particularly relevant to understanding the evolutionary origin of culture. Here, we provide an anecdotal report of a series of non-instrumental woodchip manipulation and modification events in captive cotton-top tamarins. Intriguingly, woodchips were preferentially manipulated in a position that was readily visible to a partner in a different enclosure, and the innovation apparently spread to other individuals. Together, this suggests that the arbitrary innovation was actively shared with a conspecific, which is consistent with the pattern of transmission of another arbitrary innovation in cotton-top tamarins, namely stick-weaving.
Highlights
IntroductionMore curious are arbitrary cultural variants that are apparently unproductive and without an obvious purpose, such as eye poking or hand sniffing in capuchins (Perry et al, 2003, 2017; Perry, 2011; see Lonsdorf et al, 2016), hand clasp grooming and the ‘grass-in ear behaviour’ in chimpanzees (Bonnie & de Waal, 2006; van Leeuwen et al, 2014; Wrangham et al, 2016, see Bonnie et al, 2007), stone handling in Japanese macaques (Gunst et al, 2007; Leca et al, 2008, 2011), as well as stick-weaving in cotton-top tamarins (Snowdon & Roskos, 2017)
Traditions or cultural behaviours are an integral part of many primates’ behavioural repertoires and have been studied for decades
More curious are arbitrary cultural variants that are apparently unproductive and without an obvious purpose, such as eye poking or hand sniffing in capuchins (Perry et al, 2003, 2017; Perry, 2011; see Lonsdorf et al, 2016), hand clasp grooming and the ‘grass-in ear behaviour’ in chimpanzees (Bonnie & de Waal, 2006; van Leeuwen et al, 2014; Wrangham et al, 2016, see Bonnie et al, 2007), stone handling in Japanese macaques (Gunst et al, 2007; Leca et al, 2008, 2011), as well as stick-weaving in cotton-top tamarins (Snowdon & Roskos, 2017)
Summary
More curious are arbitrary cultural variants that are apparently unproductive and without an obvious purpose, such as eye poking or hand sniffing in capuchins (Perry et al, 2003, 2017; Perry, 2011; see Lonsdorf et al, 2016), hand clasp grooming and the ‘grass-in ear behaviour’ in chimpanzees (Bonnie & de Waal, 2006; van Leeuwen et al, 2014; Wrangham et al, 2016, see Bonnie et al, 2007), stone handling in Japanese macaques (Gunst et al, 2007; Leca et al, 2008, 2011), as well as stick-weaving in cotton-top tamarins (Snowdon & Roskos, 2017). Even though this behaviour doesn’t provide access to food, comfort, or any other benefit, it is socially transmitted and appears to even be shared actively (Snowdon & Roskos, 2017; for other instances of information donation in tamarins, see Rapaport & Ruiz-Miranda, 2002; Rapaport, 2011; Troisi et al, 2018, 2020)
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