Social network analysis shows direct evidence for social transmission of tool use in wild chimpanzees.

ABSTRACT: Social network analysis methods have made it possible to test whether novel behaviors in animals spread through individual or social learning. To date, however, social network analysis of wild populations has been limited to static models that cannot precisely reflect the dynamics of learning, for instance, the impact of multiple observations across time. Here, we present a novel dynamic version of network analysis that is capable of capturing temporal aspects of acquisition--that is, how successive observations by an individual influence its acquisition of the novel behavior. We apply this model to studying the spread of two novel tool-use variants, "moss-sponging" and "leaf-sponge re-use," in the Sonso chimpanzee community of Budongo Forest, Uganda. Chimpanzees are widely considered the

SUBMITTER: Hobaiter C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4181963 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature