title: Insect prey characteristics affecting regional variation in chimpanzee tool use.
abstract: It is an ongoing interdisciplinary pursuit to identify the factors shaping the emergence and maintenance of tool technology. Field studies of several primate taxa have shown that tool using behaviors vary within and between populations. While similarity in tools over spatial and temporal scales may be the product of socially learned skills, it may also reflect adoption of convergent strategies that are tailored to specific prey features. Much has been claimed about regional variation in chimpanzee tool use, with little attention to the ecological circumstances that may have shaped such differences. This study examines chimpanzee tool use in termite gathering to evaluate the extent to which the behavior of insect prey may dictate chimpanzee technology. More specifically, we conducted a systematic comparison of chimpanzee tool use and termite prey between the Goualougo Triangle in the Republic of Congo and the La Belgique research site in southeast Cameroon. Apes at both of these sites are known to use tool sets to gather several species of termites. We collected insect specimens and measured the characteristics of their nests. Associated chimpanzee tool assemblages were documented at both sites and video recordings were conducted in the Goualougo Triangle. Although Macrotermitinae assemblages were identical, we found differences in the tools used to gather these termites. Based on measurements of the chimpanzee tools and termite nests at each site, we concluded that some characteristics of chimpanzee tools were directly related to termite nest structure. While there is a certain degree of uniformity within approaches to particular tool tasks across the species range, some aspects of regional variation in hominoid technology are likely adaptations to subtle environmental differences between populations or groups. Such microecological differences between sites do not negate the possibility of cultural transmission, as social learning may be required to transmit specific behaviors among individuals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Washington University, 1 Brookings Drive, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA; Congo Program, Wildlife Conservation Society, B.P. 14537 Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. Electronic address: csanz@wustl.edu.
authors.forename: Crickette M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Sanz
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Entomology Unit, Vector Biology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Prince Leopold Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nationalestraat 155, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Isra
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Deblauwe
authors.affiliation: Projet Grands Singes Cameroon, Centre for Research and Conservation, Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, Koningin Astridplein 26, 2018 Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Nikki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tagg
authors.affiliation: Congo Program, Wildlife Conservation Society, B.P. 14537 Brazzaville, Republic of Congo; Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes, Lincoln Park Zoo, 2001 N. Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60614, USA.
authors.forename: David B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Morgan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002163:Cameroon; D003223:Congo; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D020387:Food Chain; D020049:Isoptera / Q000502:physiology*; D009425:Nesting Behavior; D002679:Pan troglodytes / Q000502:physiology*; D053001:Tool Use Behavior; D014743:Videotape Recording
keywords: Macrotermes; Pan troglodytes troglodytes; Perforate; Puncture; Termite fish; Tool set