Capuchin monkey tool use: Overview and implications

Ottoni, Eduardo Β.; Izar, Patrícia

doi:10.1002/evan.20185

Cited by 368 publications

(272 citation statements)

References 58 publications

(52 reference statements)

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“…Recently, studies in a range of animal species have shown that cultural practices can emerge, spread, and change over time, potentially influencing individuals' fitness (183)(184)(185)(186)(187). Tool use among chimpanzees and capuchins (188)(189)(190)) is one such example, which also provides insight regarding the possible origins of the early phases of our own species' adaptation to the "cultural niche" (191,192).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural evolutionary theory: How culture evolves and why it matters

Creanza

Kolodny

Feldman

2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

336

203

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Human cultural traits-behaviors, ideas, and technologies that can be learned from other individuals-can exhibit complex patterns of transmission and evolution, and researchers have developed theoretical models, both verbal and mathematical, to facilitate our understanding of these patterns. Many of the first quantitative models of cultural evolution were modified from existing concepts in theoretical population genetics because cultural evolution has many parallels with, as well as clear differences from, genetic evolution. Furthermore, cultural and genetic evolution can interact with one another and influence both transmission and selection. This interaction requires theoretical treatments of gene-culture coevolution and dual inheritance, in addition to purely cultural evolution. In addition, cultural evolutionary theory is a natural component of studies in demography, human ecology, and many other disciplines. Here, we review the core concepts in cultural evolutionary theory as they pertain to the extension of biology through culture, focusing on cultural evolutionary applications in population genetics, ecology, and demography. For each of these disciplines, we review the theoretical literature and highlight relevant empirical studies. We also discuss the societal implications of the study of cultural evolution and of the interactions of humans with one another and with their environment. cultural evolution | mathematical models | gene-culture coevolution | niche construction | demography H uman culture encompasses ideas, behaviors, and artifacts that can be learned and transmitted between individuals and can change over time (1). This process of transmission and change is reminiscent of Darwin's principle of descent with modification through natural selection, and Darwin himself drew this explicit link in the case of languages: "The formation of different languages and of distinct species, and the proofs that both have been developed through a gradual process, are curiously parallel" (2, 3). Theory underpins most scientific endeavors, and, in the 1970s, researchers began to lay the groundwork for cultural evolutionary theory, building on the neo-Darwinian synthesis of genetics and evolution by using verbal, diagrammatic, and mathematical models (4-8). These models are, by necessity, approximations of reality (9), but because they require researchers to specify their assumptions and extract the most important features from complex processes, they have proven exceedingly useful in advancing the study of cultural evolution (10). Here, we review the field of cultural evolutionary theory as it pertains to the extension of biology through culture. We focus on human culture because the bulk of cultural evolutionary models are human-centric and certain processes such as cumulative culture seem to be unique to humans. However, numerous nonhuman species also exhibit cultural transmission, and we consider the areas of overlap between models of human and animal culture in Discussion.The study of cultural evolution is im...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural evolutionary theory: How culture evolves and why it matters

Creanza

Kolodny

Feldman

2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

336

203

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“…The gray mouse lemur (Microcebus) mastered opening boxes in [59]. Systematic tool use including limited forms of tool-making is found in the capuchin monkey (Cebus) [60,61].…”

Section: (I) Tool Usementioning

confidence: 99%

Convergent evolution of complex brains and high intelligence

Roth

2015

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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One contribution of 16 to a discussion meeting issue 'Origin and evolution of the nervous system'. Within the animal kingdom, complex brains and high intelligence have evolved several to many times independently, e.g. among ecdysozoans in some groups of insects (e.g. blattoid, dipteran, hymenopteran taxa), among lophotrochozoans in octopodid molluscs, among vertebrates in teleosts (e.g. cichlids), corvid and psittacid birds, and cetaceans, elephants and primates. High levels of intelligence are invariantly bound to multimodal centres such as the mushroom bodies in insects, the vertical lobe in octopodids, the pallium in birds and the cerebral cortex in primates, all of which contain highly ordered associative neuronal networks. The driving forces for high intelligence may vary among the mentioned taxa, e.g. needs for spatial learning and foraging strategies in insects and cephalopods, for social learning in cichlids, instrumental learning and spatial orientation in birds and social as well as instrumental learning in primates.

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“…[3,4]). However, growing evidence, obtained in dry regions of Brazil (savannah-like vegetation), suggests that capuchins are also versatile users of tools (see Ottoni & Izar [5] for a review).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moura & Lee [6], for example, suggested that food scarcity (motivational factor) and terrestrial habits (through which monkeys had access to tubers, roots and some insects by digging with stones) were the main factors for the occurrence of tool use in those primates. More recently, Ottoni & Izar [5] concluded that food scarcity is of peripheral importance, after noting that tool use can occur in groups of capuchins with provisioning and is absent in others during periods of food scarcity. The latter proposed that terrestrial habits, which free the monkey's hands to transport tools as they travel bipedally and also provide stable and relatively flat surfaces to practise tool-using behaviour, are the most important behavioural factors promoting tool use in wild capuchins [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Critically endangered blonde capuchins fish for termites and use new techniques to accomplish the task

et al. 2011

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We report the spontaneous modification and use of sticks to fish for termites, above the ground, in wild blonde capuchins ( Cebus flavius ). These critically endangered Neotropical primates inhabit remnants of the Atlantic Forest. They used two previously undescribed techniques to enhance their termite capture success: nest tapping and stick rotation. The current ecologically based explanation for tool use in wild capuchins (i.e. terrestrial habits and bipedalism) must be viewed cautiously. Instead, remarkable manual skills linked to a varied diet seem important in promoting tool use in different contexts. The repertoire of tool-using techniques employed by wild capuchins has been expanded, highlighting the behavioural versatility in this genus.

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Capuchin monkey tool use: Overview and implications

Cited by 368 publications

References 58 publications

Cultural evolutionary theory: How culture evolves and why it matters

Cultural evolutionary theory: How culture evolves and why it matters

Convergent evolution of complex brains and high intelligence

Critically endangered blonde capuchins fish for termites and use new techniques to accomplish the task

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