![]() This behavioral diversity loss was evident irrespective of the grouping or categorization of behaviors. We used a dataset of 144 chimpanzee communities, with information on 31 behaviors, to show that chimpanzees inhabiting areas with high human impact have a mean probability of occurrence reduced by 88 percent, across all behaviors, compared to low-impact areas. The 'disturbance hypothesis' predicts that human impact depletes resources and disrupts social learning processes necessary for behavioral and cultural transmission. The abstract for this extremely important project reads, "Chimpanzees possess a large number of behavioral and cultural traits among nonhuman species. Hjalmar Kohl and his colleagues published in the prestigious journal Science called " Human impact erodes chimpanzee behavioral diversity." This essay is not available for free online. These results are summarized in an essay by Dr. These new results were reported at about the same time as an important study that showed that other chimpanzee populations are losing their culture. The mechanism worked as follows: “A chimpanzee in a particular community invented a certain behavior, it became the community norm and then it spread through the surrounding forests via territorial expansions or immigrating females, until hitting some natural barrier.” He also believes that social learning is responsible for the development of the Bili-Uéré chimpanzee culture. ![]() Hicks also notes this population "seems to totally ignore the widespread and abundant Macrotermes termite mounds, which are preyed upon using stick tools in many other chimpanzee populations such as, famously, at Gombe." Gombe is where Jane Goodall first observed tool-use in chimpanzees in 1960. Gaworecki writes, "Many chimpanzee groups are known to pound fruits against branches or roots in order to open them up, but the Bili-Uéré population also pounds open two different kinds of termite mounds, Cubitermes and Thoracotermes, across the entire 50,000-square-kilometer region Hicks and team surveyed." Dr. Hicks believes "the most interesting quirk of the Bili-Uéré chimps is what he calls their "expanded ‘pounding behavior.’” Mr. and Thoracotermes macrothorax and hard-shelled fruits such as Strychnos, along with evidence of the pounding open of African giant snails and tortoises."ĭr. We describe two potential new tool types, an 'ant scoop' and a 'fruit hammer.' We document an extensive percussive technology used to process termite mounds of Cubitermes sp. Tools classified as terrestrial honey-digging sticks were a significant predictor for brushed and blunted tool ends, consistent with their presumed use. Epigaeic Dorylus tools were significantly longer than the other tool types, and D. kohli and stout digging sticks used to access underground meliponine bee nests. We describe a new chimpanzee tool kit: long probes used to harvest epigaeic driver ants ( Dorylus spp.), short probes used to extract ponerine ants and the arboreal nests of stingless bees, wands to dip for D. The researchers write, "Over a 12-year period, we documented chimpanzee tools and artifacts at 20 survey areas and gathered data on dung, feeding remains and sleeping nests. The research was conducted over a period of 12 years at 20 survey sites.
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