Abstract
The present paper describes two distinct behaviors relating to food processing and communication that were observed in a community of five separately housed groups of lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) in captivity during two study periods one decade apart: (1) a food processing technique to separate wheat from chaff, the so-called puff-blowing technique; and (2) a male display used to attract the attention of visitors, the so-called throw-kiss-display. We investigated (a) whether the behaviors were transmitted within the respective groups; and if yes, (b) their possible mode of transmission. Our results showed that only the food processing technique spread from three to twenty-one individuals during the ten-year period, whereas the communicative display died out completely. The main transmission mode of the puff-blowing technique was the mother-offspring dyad: offspring of puff-blowing mothers showed the behavior, while the offspring of non- puff-blowing mothers did not. These results strongly support the role mothers play in the acquisition of novel skills and vertical social transmission. Furthermore, they suggest that behaviors, which provide a direct benefit to individuals, have a high chance of social transmission while the loss of benefits can result in the extinction of behaviors.
Highlights
Learning via others is a fundamental building block of what is generally perceived as ‘culture’
The processes of learning are rarely directly observable but through a comparison of behavioral variations between and within populations, conclusions can be drawn as to how these behaviors may have spread [5,6]. This so-called ‘method of exclusion’ [7,8] has been criticized by some researchers arguing that insufficient attention has been paid to the difficulty of determining whether (i) ecological explanations can ever be definitively excluded as a source of behavioral variation and (ii) genetic differences are responsible for behavioral variation between groups and populations [9,10,11]
The aim of the present paper was to add to the current debate on social learning in nonhuman primates by investigating whether (1) some behaviors are more likely to be transmitted than others, and if yes, (2) their possible mode of transmission
Summary
Learning via others is a fundamental building block of what is generally perceived as ‘culture’. Social transmission includes many behavioral facets that facilitate or enable the acquisition of skills through influences from the immediate social environment [3] It is contrasted with the acquisition of behavior through individual learning and/or genetic determination [4]. The processes of learning are rarely directly observable but through a comparison of behavioral variations between and within populations, conclusions can be drawn as to how these behaviors may have spread [5,6]. This so-called ‘method of exclusion’ [7,8] has been criticized by some researchers arguing that insufficient attention has been paid to the difficulty of determining whether (i) ecological explanations can ever be definitively excluded as a source of behavioral variation and (ii) genetic differences are responsible for behavioral variation between groups and populations [9,10,11]
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