Shadows on a changing landscape: Comparing nesting patterns of hominids and chimpanzees since their last common ancestor

Abstract

Studying the evolution of nesting behavior within the human–chimpanzee clade is problematic because evidence is sparse and difficult to interpret. Lacking a fossil or archaeological record for proto‐chimpanzees, reconstructions of the antecedents of modern chimp nesting patterns can be reconstructed only from careful studies of variation in current chimpanzee and bonobo nesting patterns within the context of spatial and temporal landscape parameters. The ethology of nesting also provides an important frame of reference for reconstructions of early hominid nesting behavior. If the contemporary contrast between human and chimpanzee nesting patterns is seen as an evolutionary dichotomy, then African prehistoric landmarks that mark the origin of this split might include bipedalism and the origins of the hominidae, the first stone tools and the origins of Homo, the developmental and behavioral adaptations of Homo ergaster, shifts in Late Acheulian settlement patterns, and the origins of anatomically modern humans and the Middle Stone Age. The issue of whether Early Stone Age archaeological sites were used for nesting is unresolved because potential markers of such behavior, such as hearths, structures, or bedding, are not unambiguously recognizable in the archaeological record until the Middle Stone Age. Am. J. Primatol. 46:85–101, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Sleeping tree choice by Bwindi chimpanzees

“…Although these nests are the most obvious signs of the existence of apes in an African forest, they have been given relatively little attention by great ape researchers. This is unfortunate as many aspects of nesting biology have implications for issues that include understanding relative roles of ecological and social influences on sleeping [Anderson, 1984] and nesting behavior [Koops et al, 2007;Sabater Pi, 1985;Stewart et al, 2007], the reconstruction of early hominid behavioral ecology [Fruth & Hohmann, 1996;Hernandez, 2006;Sabater Pi et al, 1997;Sept, 1992Sept, , 1998, and censusing populations [Anderson et al, 1983;Brownlow et al, 2001;Moore, 1985;Plumptre & Reynolds, 1997;Tutin & Fernandez, 1984;Wrogemann, 1992]. Early studies of chimpanzee nesting patterns tended to be descriptive [Goodall, 1962[Goodall, , 1968.…”

Towards a prehistory of primates

“…Fortunately, chimpanzees and capuchins transport and accumulate stone materials (Boesch & Boesch 1984;Visalberghi et al 2007;Canale et al 2009;Carvalho et al 2009;Spagnoletti et al 2011), creating recognisable sites and constructing technological niches that may structure subsequent activity (Figure 3). Redundant patterning has also been documented for chimpanzee nesting sites (Sept 1998;Hernandez-Aguilar 2009), further concentrating group behaviour.…”

The pyrophilic primate hypothesis

“…The last common ancestor we share with chimpanzees is widely recognized as having inhabited wooded environments, which became increasingly open after 5‐8 Myr, roughly contemporaneous with our divergence from that common ancestor . The increased prevalence of savannah ecosystems has been suggested as a key influence on hominin dietary and locomotor adaptations, but debate over the timing and degree to which this savannah hypothesis explains hominin evolutionary change has continued since it was first formulated by Dart in 1925 …”

“…9,10,[16][17][18][19] The inception of this distinctive behavior and its incorporation into the behavioral repertoire of our lineage are often hypothesized to be the result of happenstance hominin dietary and locomotor adaptations, but debate over the timing and degree to which this savannah hypothesis explains hominin evolutionary change has continued since it was first formulated by Dart in 1925. [23][24][25][26][27][28] Recent paleoenvironmental reconstructions derived from stable carbon isotopes in paleosols have clarified the dating and extent of grassland expansion in tropical Africa since the Late Miocene (7Myr). [29][30][31] Stable isotopes are particularly useful in paleoenvironmental reconstructions because woody plants use the C 3 photosynthetic pathway, while tropical grasses use the C 4 pathway.…”