Abstract
The question of whether any species except humans exhibits culture has generated much debate, partially due to the difficulty of providing conclusive evidence from observational studies in the wild. A starting point for demonstrating the existence of culture that has been used for many species including chimpanzees and orangutans is to show that there is geographic variation in the occurrence of particular behavioral traits inferred to be a result of social learning and not ecological or genetic influences. Gorillas live in a wide variety of habitats across Africa and they exhibit flexibility in diet, behavior, and social structure. Here we apply the ‘method of exclusion’ to look for the presence/absence of behaviors that could be considered potential cultural traits in well-habituated groups from five study sites of the two species of gorillas. Of the 41 behaviors considered, 23 met the criteria of potential cultural traits, of which one was foraging related, nine were environment related, seven involved social interactions, five were gestures, and one was communication related. There was a strong positive correlation between behavioral dissimilarity and geographic distance among gorilla study sites. Roughly half of all variation in potential cultural traits was intraspecific differences (i.e. variability among sites within a species) and the other 50% of potential cultural traits were differences between western and eastern gorillas. Further research is needed to investigate if the occurrence of these traits is influenced by social learning. These findings emphasize the importance of investigating cultural traits in African apes and other species to shed light on the origin of human culture.
Highlights
Culture in non-human animals, defined as ‘group-typical behavioral patterns shared by community members that to some degree are reliant on socially learned and transmitted information [1,2], has sparked much interest among scientists for several reasons, but because of the implications for understanding the origins of culture in humans [2,3,4]
Observational studies providing evidence that within- and between- population variation in behavior is a result of social learning and transmission have argued that there are social traditions or culture in many species including chimpanzees [7,8,9], bonobos [10], orangutans [11], capuchin monkeys [12,13], spider monkeys [14,15], meerkats [16,17], dolphins [18,19], whales [20] and birds and fish [21]
Approval and permission to conduct research was granted by the Uganda Wildlife Authority, the Uganda National Council of Science and Technology, the Rwanda Development Board, Ministry of Education and Water and Forests of the government of Central African Republic for permission to work in Dzanga-Ndoki National Park, the Ministries of Scientific Research and Forest and Water in the Central African Republic and Republic of Congo for permission to conduct research at Mondika, and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CENAREST) and the Agence Nationale des Parcs Nationaux (ANPN) in Gabon
Summary
Culture in non-human animals, defined as ‘group-typical behavioral patterns shared by community members that to some degree are reliant on socially learned and transmitted information [1,2], has sparked much interest among scientists for several reasons, but because of the implications for understanding the origins of culture in humans [2,3,4]. Observational studies providing evidence that within- and between- population variation in behavior is a result of social learning and transmission have argued that there are social traditions or culture in many species including chimpanzees [7,8,9], bonobos [10], orangutans [11], capuchin monkeys [12,13], spider monkeys [14,15], meerkats [16,17], dolphins [18,19], whales [20] and birds and fish [21]. As a way to emphasize the complexity of cultural phenomena, some authors have restricted the presence of culture to those species with traditions in at least two different behavioral domains [35]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
