title: First observation of Dorylus ant feeding in Budongo chimpanzees supports absence of stick-tool culture.
abstract: The use of stick- or probe-tools is a chimpanzee universal, recorded in all long-term study populations across Africa, except one: Budongo, Uganda. Here, after 25 years of observation, stick-tool use remains absent under both natural circumstances and strong experimental scaffolding. Instead, the chimpanzees employ a rich repertoire of leaf-tools for a variety of dietary and hygiene tasks. One use of stick-tools in other communities is in feeding on the aggressive Dorylus 'army ant' species, consumed by chimpanzees at all long-term study sites outside of mid-Western Uganda. Here we report the first observation of army-ant feeding in Budongo, in which individuals from the Waibira chimpanzee community employed detached leaves to feed on a ground swarm. We describe the behaviour and discuss whether or not it can be considered tool use, together with its implication for the absence of stick-tool 'culture' in Budongo chimpanzees.
authors.affiliation: Budongo Conservation Field Station, PO Box 362, Masindi, Uganda.
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mugisha
authors.affiliation: Budongo Conservation Field Station, PO Box 362, Masindi, Uganda.|Department of Comparative Cognition, Institute of Biology, University of Neuchatel, 2000, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zuberbühler
authors.affiliation: Budongo Conservation Field Station, PO Box 362, Masindi, Uganda. clh42@st-andrews.ac.uk.|School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Mary's College, South Street, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9JP, UK. clh42@st-andrews.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hobaiter
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D020387:Food Chain; D008297:Male; D002679:Pan troglodytes / Q000502:physiology*; D018515:Plant Leaves; D053001:Tool Use Behavior; D014454:Uganda
keywords: Chimpanzee; Culture; Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii; Tool use