The effect of innovation and sex-specific migration on neutral cultural differentiation

Yeaman, Sam; Bshary, Redouan; Lehmann, Laurent

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.04.004

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…Tool use is a very convenient indicator for local traditions but it is restricted to relatively few primate species, while our approach could be used more generally. Our results are in line with predictions of a model that takes sex-biased dispersal into consideration (Yeaman et al 2011). On the other hand, neighbouring chimpanzee groups may differ with respect to socially learned behaviour (Boesch 2003).…”

Section: Further Methodological Considerationssupporting

confidence: 90%

“…An expansion of chimpanzee study groups at Ta€ ı National Park, Ivory Coast, demonstrates the pitfalls of small sample size: a tool-use behaviour previously classified as a tradition in the population was present only in the first but not in the second study group (Boesch 2003). These data are in line with a recent model that proposes that different traditions may arise not only between distant populations of the same species but also on a more local scale and even between neighbouring groups (Yeaman et al 2011). Such group-level traditions are particularly likely to occur if two conditions are met, and which apply to our study species, the vervet monkey.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Second, females are philopatric while males migrate. The combination of the two factors effectively blocks the transfer of knowledge between groups, as the prior knowledge of immigrated males is ignored (Yeaman et al 2011). A promising context to test this model's predictions is foraging.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Differences in Diet Between Six Neighbouring Groups of Vervet Monkeys

Tournier

Waal

et al. 2014

Ethology

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The comparative approach provides a powerful tool to study evolutionary questions on both intra-and interspecific variation. It has been applied to a great variety of taxa, including primates. Primate studies differ from those on most other taxa in two ways: first, data from most study sites contain information about only one group. Second, primatologists have used the comparative approach also to identify local traditions, that is, behaviours that spread through social learning. Here, we evaluate the appropriateness of such data by comparing the diet composition of six neighbouring groups of vervet monkeys, Cercopithecus aethiops. We used scan samples to collect diet data, and abundance measures and phenology to assess the availability of the 14 most important tree species utilised during the study. We calculated indices of diet overlap, which were highly variable and could be remarkably low. Furthermore, we found significant differences between group diets with respect to the relative utilisation of 13 of the 14 tree species. For all 13 species, we found positive correlations between local abundance and appearance in the diet, consistent with the importance of local ecology for diet composition. Nevertheless, more detailed comparisons of pairs of groups often revealed significant mismatches between the relative importance of a tree species and its local abundance. In conclusion, local variation merits increased attention by primatologists. While our results are compatible with the possibility that traditions exist on a local (group) rather than population scale, alternative explanations have to be considered.

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Section: Further Methodological Considerationssupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 92%

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Differences in Diet Between Six Neighbouring Groups of Vervet Monkeys

Tournier

Waal

et al. 2014

Ethology

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“…Likewise, the likelihood that immigrants enter communities at a low point in the social hierarchy (Kahlenberg et al, 2008), provides an alternative, or additional, explanation to conformity to group traditions (Haun et al, 2012; Luncz & Boesch, 2014; Luncz et al, 2012), for the observation that cultural repertoires of neighboring chimpanzee communities may differ despite shared knowledgeable migrants (Biro et al, 2006; Luncz et al, 2012; Luncz & Boesch, 2014, but see Lind & Lindenfors, 2010; Nunn, Thrall, Bartz, Dasgupta, & Boesch, 2009). Indeed, these findings echo those of Yeaman, Bshary, and Lehmann (2011) who, in an analytical model, found that opposite biases in individuals who are learned from, and individuals who migrate, resulted in high cultural trait variation among groups relative to a genetic model. However, the consistency of our data with chimpanzees employing a “copy knowledgeable individuals” strategy complicates this interpretation; females display their alternative behavioral traits for some time following immigration (Luncz & Boesch, 2014) and thus low-ranked immigrants may still be copied if they exhibit cues of proficiency with new skills.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 72%

Chimpanzees copy dominant and knowledgeable individuals: implications for cultural diversity

Kendal¹,

Hopper²,

Whiten³

et al. 2015

Evolution and Human Behavior

222

221

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Evolutionary theory predicts that natural selection will fashion cognitive biases to guide when, and from whom, individuals acquire social information, but the precise nature of these biases, especially in ecologically valid group contexts, remains unknown. We exposed four captive groups of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) to a novel extractive foraging device and, by fitting statistical models, isolated four simultaneously operating transmission biases. These include biases to copy (i) higher-ranking and (ii) expert individuals, and to copy others when (iii) uncertain or (iv) of low rank. High-ranking individuals were relatively un-strategic in their use of acquired knowledge, which, combined with the bias for others to observe them, may explain reports that high innovation rates (in juveniles and subordinates) do not generate a correspondingly high frequency of traditions in chimpanzees. Given the typically low rank of immigrants in chimpanzees, a ‘copying dominants’ bias may contribute to the observed maintenance of distinct cultural repertoires in neighboring communities despite sharing similar ecology and knowledgeable migrants. Thus, a copying dominants strategy may, as often proposed for conformist transmission, and perhaps in concert with it, restrict the accumulation of traditions within chimpanzee communities whilst maintaining cultural diversity.

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“…Yeaman et al . [22] modelled social learning rules in combination with migration patterns and found that the interaction produces conditions in which traditions may form on the population level and conditions under which traditions may form on the group level or within even smaller units. Observations on foraging technique development suggest that in several wild primate species, mothers are central for technique acquisition [23] – [27] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Similarity in Food Cleaning Techniques within Matrilines in Wild Vervet Monkeys

et al. 2012

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Social learning and the formation of traditions rely on the ability and willingness to copy one another. A central question is under which conditions individuals adapt behaviour to social influences. Here, we demonstrate that similarities in food processing techniques emerge on the level of matrilines (mother – offspring) but not on the group level in an experiment on six groups of wild vervet monkeys that involved grapes covered with sand. Monkeys regularly ate unclean grapes but also used four cleaning techniques more similarly within matrilines: rubbing in hands, rubbing on substrate, open with mouth, and open with hands. Individual cleaning techniques evolved over time as they converged within matrilines, stabilised at the end and remained stable in a follow-up session more than one year later. The similarity within matrilines persisted when we analyzed only foraging events of individuals in the absence of other matriline members and matriline members used more similar methods than adult full sisters. Thus, momentary conversion or purely genetic causation are unlikely explanations, favouring social learning as mechanism for within matriline similarities. The restriction of traditions to matriline membership rather than to the group level may restrict the development of culture in monkeys relative to apes or humans.

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The effect of innovation and sex-specific migration on neutral cultural differentiation

Cited by 6 publications

References 67 publications

Differences in Diet Between Six Neighbouring Groups of Vervet Monkeys

Differences in Diet Between Six Neighbouring Groups of Vervet Monkeys

Chimpanzees copy dominant and knowledgeable individuals: implications for cultural diversity

Similarity in Food Cleaning Techniques within Matrilines in Wild Vervet Monkeys

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