Article: in a journal, no author Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology 2020 Cultural Diversity in Chimpanzee. ScienceDaily.
Summary
Do Animals Have Culture?
The article’s main argument is that animals have a culture, but inadequate evidence supports cultural traits in chimpanzees. According to the authors, other animals such as fish and birds demonstrate more skills of possessing a culture than chimpanzees. The authors argue that despite having behavioral characteristics, chimpanzees do not exhibit social learning hence lack aspects that make up a culture.
Animal Culture: Chimpanzees Table Manners?
In this article, the authors argue that apes have culture through their inventions rather than mimicking human culture. The authors use experimental evidence, which involves three groups of chimpanzees performing different tasks. According to the researchers, the experiments show that different chimpanzee communities observe specific traditions in situations similar to human beings.
Cultural Diversity in Chimpanzees
This article’s central argument states that chimpanzees have diverse cultures which pass from generation to generation, just like human beings. The report provides evidence which confirms that chimpanzees do not mimic humans or re-invent cultures to enhance their knowledge but follow the existing etiquette. The authors claim insufficient research on the diversity of chimpanzees’ culture compared to human cultures and suggest further research to determine the variability in chimpanzee cultures.
Purpose Statement
Various anthropological studies indicate that human beings and apes are close relatives genetically. The closest apes to humans are the chimpanzees, who exhibit almost similar DNA and physical make-up. Since humans have a unique culture, chimpanzees may also possess some cultural aspects identical to humans. This essay argues that chimpanzees have a culture through reviewing scientific and anthropology articles on chimpanzees’ way of life.
Literature Review
Laland and Hoppit (2003) argue that scientists do not have enough evidence to ascertain the chimpanzee culture. According to the authors, researchers arguing that chimpanzees have culture confuse cultural traits to ecological adaptations. For example, using sticks for hunting termites could be an environmental adaptation since sticks are the only available tools for hunting in a given habitat. Also, the authors argue that researchers claim chimpanzees have a culture due to their close resemblance to human beings. This argument will fit in my essay by providing a counterargument that ecological surroundings do not determine the cultural traits of chimpanzees. I will use the evidence to form an argument stating the evolutionary invention of chimpanzees’ tools and the diversity of using the same tool across different ecological populations.
In the popular article, the author argues that chimpanzees have a culture similar to human beings. The author compares the chimpanzee culture to how human beings develop table manners. Through experiments involving different groups, the author confirms that chimpanzees have a particular tradition during meals that pass through generations through behavioral observation. In my essay, this evidence will help in supporting the existence of chimpanzee culture. The proof will help provide evidence that chimpanzees have the cognitive ability to learn and practice activities through observation, which helps maintain and enhance their culture. I will also use the evidence to suggest further experimental researches to prove that chimpanzees’ tradition involves social learning.
The required article provides evidence that chimpanzees have cultural diversity across populations. The author gives an example of different postures demonstrated by three chimpanzee groups in different regions. One group fish while sitting, the second group fishes by leaning on the elbows, while the third group lies on the side while fishing. The evidence proves that different chimpanzee populations have unique cultures that differentiate them. This evidence will fit my essay by supporting the argument that chimpanzees have a culture difference across chimpanzee populations. I will use the example to prove the difference between ecological adaptation and evolutionary traits since the three groups live in almost the same ecological setup.
Discussion
Laland and Hoppit (2003) argue that other vertebrates such as fish, whales, and birds show more cultural traits than chimpanzees. The authors say that they do not disregard the existence of chimpanzee culture intentionally, but because evidence indicating that chimpanzees have the ability for social learning is inadequate. Chimpanzees do not demonstrate typical behavior in groups which can form a pattern showing the cultural trait. For example, some fish species possess social learning in their conduct, such as communicating and moving in masses to avoid predators. Regarding this example, it is clear that chimpanzees do not have to learn from observing each other and mimicking characteristics hence lack a common culture.
Although social learning is among the determinant of culture, Call and Tennie (2009) argue that focusing on social learning limits the definition of culture in animals. Laland and Hoppit (2003) also agree with the authors’ argument that animal culture has strict criteria for defining culture by equating it to the uniqueness of human culture. In the article, Call and Tennie (2009) argue that chimpanzees have a culture through inventions and observation, which scientists do not consider social learning. The authors claim that scientists should apply other human characteristics apart from social learning, such as knowledge accumulation, to determine the culture of chimpanzees since they demonstrate cognitive abilities.
In disregarding chimpanzee culture, Laland and Hoppit (2003) argue that most scientists study the existence of chimpanzee culture because they are the closest primates o humans. In the argument, the authors claim that scientists are biased to studying other animals’ cultures because of the anthropocentric perspective, which insists on more similarities between humans and chimpanzees. Apart from creating more likenesses, the authors argue that scientists study chimpanzee culture for the continuity of scientific discoveries such as the Darwinian theory of evolution, which involves the mental ability to invent and adapt to the evolving world. However, Call and Tennie (2009) state that chimpanzees do not design tools according to their mental capacity or ecological location but use the tools from previous generations. According to the Max Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology, ecological and cognitive abilities do not determine the chimpanzees’ actions which proves that each group demonstrated their particular culture; hence scientific studies on chimpanzee culture cannot be considered anthropocentric.
Call and Tennie (2009) further insist that chimpanzees use initially innovated tools through generational observations. In the Darwinian theory of heredity, parents pass genes to their offspring, which is a biological process; hence using the same tools for generations is behavioral rather than a natural trait. The Max Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology (2020) supports this argument that chimpanzees form habits through observing and learning from each other and not due to new inventions and ecological adaptations. The article shows how three different groups of chimpanzees in different environmental locations demonstrated almost similar traits. According to the institute, chimpanzee communities stick to a particular way of doing things such as fishing postures by learning from each other and never mimic other communities’ posture, therefore, defining their cultural identity.
The Max Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology (2020) also argues that chimpanzees use tools and the ability to groom place them close to human beings’ characteristics. Since humans demonstrate grooming and using tools such as knives and spoons to eat, chimpanzees also create tools such as sticks and folded leave to eat honey (Call & Tennie, 2009). Call and Tennie (2009) compare chimpanzees’ approaches to eating honey to human table manners, where it is tradition to eat honey from holes using particular tools. Although Laland and Hoppit (2003) argue that scientists only study chimpanzees because of their close genetic make-up, it is evident that chimpanzees are very similar to human beings and even share certain cultural aspects. Therefore, they are the closest animal for reference in investigating animal culture.
Call and Tennie 2009 and the Max Planck institute argue that ecological surroundings do not determine chimpanzees’ behavior. In both articles, evidence shows that different chimpanzee communities have almost similar traditions despite living in other geographical areas. However, Laland and Hoppitt (2003) still consider those similarities behavioral rather than social learning. An action must show evidence of initial innovation and spread socially to diffuse into a tradition that forms a cumulative culture (Laland &Hoppit, 2003). Throughout their article, Laland and Hoppit (2003) justify their argument by demonstrating the lack of social learning among chimpanzees. However, they suggest that scientists should find a better approach to defining animal culture to determine which does not focus wholly on social learning and the uniqueness of human culture.