Wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) exploit tortoises (Kinixys erosa) via percussive technology

Simone Pika,Tobias Deschner,Erwan Théleste,Harmonie Klein,Sarah Bunel,Pauline Baas

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-43301-8

Simone Pika, Tobias Deschner + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-43301-8

Copy DOI

Abstract

Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), one of humankinds’ closest living relatives, are known to hunt and consume the meat of various animal taxa. Although some researchers have presented indirect evidence that chimpanzees may also prey on tortoises, until now, direct observations of this behaviour did not exist. Here, we provide systematic descriptions of the first observations of chimpanzee predation on tortoises (Kinixys erosa). We made these unprecedented observations on newly habituated chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) of the Rekambo community, living in the Loango National Park, Gabon. The behaviour qualified as customary, that is occurring in most or all adult males, involved a distinct smashing technique, and resulted frequently in food sharing with other group members. Our observations shed new light on the hitherto little understood percussive technology of chimpanzees, and expand our current knowledge on chimpanzees’ dietary and predatory repertoires with respect to reptiles. We also report a case of food storage and discuss it in the context of future-oriented cognition. Our findings suggest the need for more nuanced interpretations of chimpanzees’ cognitive skills in combination with an in-depth understanding of their unique socio-ecological niches. They further emphasize the importance of nonhuman primate field observations to inform theories of hominin evolution.

Highlights

The ability to use and manufacture tools, long thought to be uniquely human, has been reported in a variety of species of birds (e.g., New Caledonian crows Corvus moneduloides)[1] and mammals
We report on a single case of food storage, in which an adult male tucked a half-eaten tortoise in a tree fork and retrieved it the day to continue feeding
We found that tortoise predation is a customary[7] behaviour in the Rekambo community, regularly done by all adult males

Summary

Introduction

The ability to use and manufacture tools, long thought to be uniquely human, has been reported in a variety of species of birds (e.g., New Caledonian crows Corvus moneduloides)[1] and mammals (e.g., sea otter Enhydra lutris[2]; bottlenose dolphins Tursiops sp.[3]). Compared to other nonhuman animals, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) have developed an exceptionally large and varied technological repertoire[6,7] They deploy tools made from diverse plant sources to acquire social insects, and utilize spear-like tools to rouse prosimian prey from cavities[7,8,9,10]. They are known to use percussive technology, ranging from pounding open hard-shelled fruits (Baobab sp.[11], Strychnos sp.12) and termite mounds[13] against substrates to pounding open nuts (Coula edulis, Panda oleosa) using hammers[14,15]. Tortoises represent an important food resource in the diet of present-day hunter-gatherer societies[19,20]

Methods

Results

Conclusion