Study Reveals How Chimpanzees Teach Tool Use to Offspring

<p>Chimpanzees are known to use rudimentary tools when foraging for food. A new paper published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology indicates that this learned behavior is transmitted from adults to offspring through social learning. Specifically, adult chimpanzees model the behavior and then provide their tools to younger chimps, allowing them to mimic the same actions.</p><p>Co-author Andreu Sánchez-Megías, a graduate student at the University of Barcelona and the Jane Goodall Institute Spain in Senegal, stated, "Receiving food and tools from experienced individuals, which we call food or tool transfer, may help chimpanzees learn to use technology to extract foods that are difficult to access. Tool transfers thus appear to be a form of teaching, together with observation and supervised practice. It appears that mothers are the main models and teachers for young chimpanzees in this manner."</p><p>Historically, tool use was considered a defining characteristic of humans. Charles Darwin noted chimpanzees using stones to crack nuts in 1871. In 1960, primatologist Jane Goodall observed a chimp named David Greybeard using a twig to extract termites from a nest. Upon learning of this behavior, Goodall's mentor, Louis Leakey, remarked, “Now we must redefine ‘tool,’ redefine ‘man,’ or accept chimpanzees as humans.” Since then, chimpanzees have been observed creating sponges from leaves to soak up liquids, shaping sticks to collect algae, and sharpening rudimentary spears for hunting.</p>