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Naïve, unenculturated chimpanzees fail to make and use flaked stone tools

Background: Despite substantial research on early hominin lithic technologies, the learning mechanisms underlying flake manufacture and use are contested. To draw phylogenetic inferences on the potential cognitive processes underlying the acquisition of both of these abilities in early hominins, we...

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Autores principales: Bandini, Elisa, Motes-Rodrigo, Alba, Archer, William, Minchin, Tanya, Axelsen, Helene, Hernandez-Aguilar, Raquel Adriana, McPherron, Shannon P., Tennie, Claudio
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: F1000 Research Limited 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7612464/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35253007
http://dx.doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.13186.2
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author Bandini, Elisa
Motes-Rodrigo, Alba
Archer, William
Minchin, Tanya
Axelsen, Helene
Hernandez-Aguilar, Raquel Adriana
McPherron, Shannon P.
Tennie, Claudio
author_facet Bandini, Elisa
Motes-Rodrigo, Alba
Archer, William
Minchin, Tanya
Axelsen, Helene
Hernandez-Aguilar, Raquel Adriana
McPherron, Shannon P.
Tennie, Claudio
author_sort Bandini, Elisa
collection PubMed
description Background: Despite substantial research on early hominin lithic technologies, the learning mechanisms underlying flake manufacture and use are contested. To draw phylogenetic inferences on the potential cognitive processes underlying the acquisition of both of these abilities in early hominins, we investigated if and how one of our closest living relatives, chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes), could learn to make and use flakes. Methods: Across several experimental conditions, we tested eleven task-naïve chimpanzees (unenculturated n=8, unknown status n=3) from two independent populations for their abilities to spontaneously make and subsequently use flakes as well as to use flakes made by a human experimenter. Results: Despite the fact that the chimpanzees seemed to understand the requirements of the task, were sufficiently motivated and had ample opportunities to develop the target behaviours, none of the chimpanzees tested made or used flakes in any of the experimental conditions. Conclusions: These results differ from all previous ape flaking experiments, which found flake manufacture and use in bonobos and one orangutan. However, these earlier studies tested human-enculturated apes and provided test subjects with flake making and using demonstrations. The contrast between these earlier positive findings and our negative findings (despite using a much larger sample size) suggests that enculturation and/or demonstrations may be necessary for chimpanzees to acquire these abilities. The data obtained in this study are consistent with the hypothesis that flake manufacture and use might have evolved in the hominin lineage after the split between Homo and Pan 7 million years ago, a scenario further supported by the initial lack of flaked stone tools in the archaeological record after this split. We discuss possible evolutionary scenarios for flake manufacture and use in both non-hominin and hominin lineages.
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spelling pubmed-76124642022-03-03 Naïve, unenculturated chimpanzees fail to make and use flaked stone tools Bandini, Elisa Motes-Rodrigo, Alba Archer, William Minchin, Tanya Axelsen, Helene Hernandez-Aguilar, Raquel Adriana McPherron, Shannon P. Tennie, Claudio Open Res Eur Research Article Background: Despite substantial research on early hominin lithic technologies, the learning mechanisms underlying flake manufacture and use are contested. To draw phylogenetic inferences on the potential cognitive processes underlying the acquisition of both of these abilities in early hominins, we investigated if and how one of our closest living relatives, chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes), could learn to make and use flakes. Methods: Across several experimental conditions, we tested eleven task-naïve chimpanzees (unenculturated n=8, unknown status n=3) from two independent populations for their abilities to spontaneously make and subsequently use flakes as well as to use flakes made by a human experimenter. Results: Despite the fact that the chimpanzees seemed to understand the requirements of the task, were sufficiently motivated and had ample opportunities to develop the target behaviours, none of the chimpanzees tested made or used flakes in any of the experimental conditions. Conclusions: These results differ from all previous ape flaking experiments, which found flake manufacture and use in bonobos and one orangutan. However, these earlier studies tested human-enculturated apes and provided test subjects with flake making and using demonstrations. The contrast between these earlier positive findings and our negative findings (despite using a much larger sample size) suggests that enculturation and/or demonstrations may be necessary for chimpanzees to acquire these abilities. The data obtained in this study are consistent with the hypothesis that flake manufacture and use might have evolved in the hominin lineage after the split between Homo and Pan 7 million years ago, a scenario further supported by the initial lack of flaked stone tools in the archaeological record after this split. We discuss possible evolutionary scenarios for flake manufacture and use in both non-hominin and hominin lineages. F1000 Research Limited 2021-07-15 /pmc/articles/PMC7612464/ /pubmed/35253007 http://dx.doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.13186.2 Text en Copyright: © 2021 Bandini E et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Bandini, Elisa
Motes-Rodrigo, Alba
Archer, William
Minchin, Tanya
Axelsen, Helene
Hernandez-Aguilar, Raquel Adriana
McPherron, Shannon P.
Tennie, Claudio
Naïve, unenculturated chimpanzees fail to make and use flaked stone tools
title Naïve, unenculturated chimpanzees fail to make and use flaked stone tools
title_full Naïve, unenculturated chimpanzees fail to make and use flaked stone tools
title_fullStr Naïve, unenculturated chimpanzees fail to make and use flaked stone tools
title_full_unstemmed Naïve, unenculturated chimpanzees fail to make and use flaked stone tools
title_short Naïve, unenculturated chimpanzees fail to make and use flaked stone tools
title_sort naïve, unenculturated chimpanzees fail to make and use flaked stone tools
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7612464/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35253007
http://dx.doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.13186.2
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