Chimpanzee Essay

Anthropologist, Edward Tylor defines culture as “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society” (McGrew, 1998). Other anthropological definitions refer to specific human nature of a culture centered on language, symbols, teaching and imitation (Humle and Newton-Fisher, 2013). Nonhuman primates are cultured and is passed from parent to offspring and is enforced throughout their lives. Various primates initially do the same thing, but carry out these tasks different per what they practice which would be a part of their culture. This research paper will explore specific evidence of culture in nonhuman primates and how it is transmitted.

Harlow gathered 16 rhesus monkeys, placing some with a cloth covered monkey that did not produce food, and some with a wired monkey that dispensed food. With this presence, it was found that the newborns didn’t die as they had the cloth to cuddle. It was found that the monkeys would rather cuddle the cloth covered monkey rather than the wired one which produced food, just to establish a sense of contact comfort, which was much more important for the attachment of the monkeys. Harlow also followed monkeys which had been deprived of a ‘real’ mother at birth and found the wire mother reared monkeys were dysfunctional but those with the cloth covered one didn’t develop normal social

     The cultural transmission of a communication system through learning is a fundamental attribute of language. Trained chimpanzee’s Washoe and Lucy have tried to teach Ameslan to other animals, including their own offspring. Washoe has taught gestures to other chimps at the institute where she is, including her son, Sequoia, who died when he was very young. There has been other cases of cultural transmission from chimp to chimp.

Gretchen Vogel, a contributing correspondent for the journal Science, wrote an article on how primate culture can help us learn the roots of human culture. Vogel refers to a primatologists and psychologists research on differences in habits between chimpanzee groups at different locations. The research mostly focuses on chimpanzees and their ability to learn from one another. Vogel writes about the evidence of primate culture that is based on field studies comparing the chimpanzee skills and behaviors in groups around Africa. According to Vogel geographic differences impacts a chimpanzee’s specific behavior and skills. She states that even if we do not consider primate behaviors a culture researchers say that primate traditions may offer insight

Apes and primates come in all different shapes and sizes. They all exhibit different characteristics and most importantly different behaviors that separate these different primates. The thing that is the most fascinating is really how similar they are to us. The similarities go past structure, similarities can also be seen in their behavior and how they think similar to a rational human being. Gorillas are the biggest primate currently alive on earth and they are also one of the smartest as seen through Koko the gorilla who actually understands english and can effectively use sign language. Gorillas are truly fascinating creatures that exhibit behaviors

In Sarah Blaffer Hrdy’s talk, she discusses infants and the presence of alloparents in combination with their parents. Hrdy states that human infants fall behind other apes in physical development, but are able to monitor others and assess their intentions from a very young age. I find this interesting because often human infants are only compared to other human infants in regards to if they can hold eye contact and if they understand facial expression. When human infants are compared to other nonhuman infant primates, there is a vast difference of what human infants can be successful at. It is also interesting to note that human infants get significantly better at recognizing their mother’s face as they get older, where chimpanzees get worse at recognizing their mothers face as they get older.

Primates have been traced to have a very close evolutionary relationship with humans. Monkeys and apes resemble humans more than any other groups of primates. Primatologists have studied monkeys and apes and found that they share a number of characteristics with humans. These primates have developed their characteristics through the environment they live in. They have developed teeth, sensory organs, a brain and a skeleton by adapting to their environment. They also live and travel in groups. Primates reconcile with each other after an argument. This embracing and touching demonstrates group sociability that humans also demonstrate. Apes have the same reproduction cycle as humans. They give birth to one infant at a time and then nurse that

The article “Kinship and Social Bonds in Female Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)” is a research article in which was written based off of studies of many social mammals. There is a lot of research that has been conducted on female mammals that live in groups, which makes it reasonable to believe that kinship is something that influences the growth and continuation of social bonds. The objective of this study was to prove if kinship has an influence on social bonding for female chimpanzees that live in groups. The idea of this is to conclude if female chimpanzees develop sturdy communal relations with unrelated mammals of the equivalent gender. To do this the study observes multiple different characteristics of female chimpanzees from the same area. Observations were conducted on both physical and behavioral aspects of the chimps. The population that the investigators intend to refer their findings to is the Ngogo community of chimpanzees living in Kibale National Park, Uganda. Previous studies of males from the same group allowed the study to compare females to males that expressed powerful social ties amongst other members.

This is a common element associated with non-human primates and is often unexplainable by researchers. However, these specialized biological anthropologists stick with their career path and added to the knowledge we have of non-human primates. Likewise, this article connects with physical anthropology because of this. The discussion on non-human primates and their behaviors is a key element in anthropology, especially physical anthropology. This behavioral concept among the monkeys ties into their culture as primates, and could vary from different species, as well as factors such as isolation and environment. In short, the research provided in Braun’s article is a key milestone in the field of anthropology and the continued study of primate

Bonobos use a wide range of communication patterns to help forage for food. In an article titled Preliminary Observation on the Feeding Behavior of Pan Paniscus, researchers studied the feeding behavior of Bonobos over a seven-month period. The researchers reported that when a small group (2-4 Bonobos) located a tree bearing ripe fruit, they would signal by vocalizing to the rest of the group (Badrian, 1981, p. 173-181). Bonobos use five distinct calls when searching for food and a combination of these calls to describe the food quality of the source that they have located (Clay, 2011). When a preferred food is found, peeps and barks are given to the others compared to yelps and grunts that are given to lesser preferred foods. When Bonobos have acquired their food, they are social in their food sharing patterns. A study done by Vicky M. Oeize and her team showed that hunting and meat sharing had more social than nutritional benefits (Oeize, 2008). In another study done that looked at the specifics of how they share their food, the results showed that it is voluntary (Hare, 2010). The experiment was conducted in three adjacent rooms, with the food being in the center room. One Bonobo was placed in the center room and rather than consuming all the food alone, eighty percent of the subjects opened one of the adjacent doors to share with a recipient, even if it meant the recipient would eat all the food.

Yerkes, highlights that both chimpanzees and humans are influenced by the public in which they engage characteristics of mingling, ranks and ownership (Glick, 105). Mingling is an important feature because knowing that chimps like to socialize means that they like engaging in conversations and surrounding themselves with others but just like humans without socializing it can have a negative effect on one. Besides socializing also comes with having a leader hence managing the group and making important decisions in the community. These are just some examples of anthropodenial between humans and primates that are

I watched several documentaries which allowed me to observe different species of primates living in their natural habitats. I took notes of what I saw and researched information on the species to fully understand the meaning of each discernable behavior. The first documentary that I watched was made by KPBS San Diego and allowed me to observe a community of Bonobos living in their natural habitat in Congo. Second documentary that I watched was a BBC documentary which allowed me to observe a small community of Chimpanzees living in Uganda. I then watched a second BBC documentary in which observed Crested Black Macaques in their natural habitat, the Timbuktu Rainforest I could observe and take notes. I then reviewed the documentaries whiles listening to the observer’s comments. During my observations, I witnessed many different primate activities such as social grooming, the use of tools, and hunting. I was also able to identify several different primate behaviors and social structures. Additionally, watching different species of primate allowed me to identify their similarities and differences. Moreover, I was also able to recognize similarities between them and us, humans.

Using the phrase “instinct” very liberally creates many issues when discussing the behaviors of non-human primates, and in this case mothering rhesus macaques. To determine the source of the disturbed agonistic behavior of the mother rhesus toward her offspring, one must first look at the environmental conditions in which the mother rhesus was reared as an infant. The correlation between environmental conditions and behavioral tendencies of the mother rhesus can be observed in the behavioral differences of the mother rhesus and related members of the group, owing to differencing environmental conditions. In addition, one must consider exactly how certain behaviors are used as a means of communication and socialization between individuals, as various gestures, vocalizations, and facial expressions are a common means of communication between members of a social group. Observing the various signal-response communication between rhesus infants and their non-agonistic mothers, and comparing that communication to that of infants and the rhesus agonistic mothers, could give possible insight in the cues that infants give to their mothers for interactions, such as feeding. Collected social observations from these agonistic mothers may suggest that “maternal instincts” are not genetically determined, but instead greatly influenced by the social structure and environment that the mother, as an infant, was reared in.

A 10 year practice of supervision for bonobos shows that they unlike chimpanzee walk on two extremities more often than chimpanzee males. They are less aggressive, than chimpanzee. The social hierarchy in their communities is not so cruel, and relations among sex are devoid of a strong man's dominant. Unlike other monkeys bonobo males stay the longest under their parent guardianship that decreased a lot male’s aggression. When chimpanzee finds food, males will take it no matter if the first who found it was a female which differs chimpanzee from bonobo (Wrangham and Peterson, 1996). Another reason of bonobo’s weak aggressiveness is that every female entering the community has a sexual relationship with the older female; they groom each other

Did you know that humans and chimpanzees are 99 percent alike? That’s why I, Jane Goodall, was so fascinated by them. I was born in London, England, in 1934. When I was about two years old, my father gave me a stuffed chimpanzee. I named it Jubilee. That monkey started my fascination with chimpanzees. Ever since I got Jubilee, I wanted to study chimpanzees. In 1956, I received a letter that would change my life forever from my best friend Clo. Clo and her family just purchased a farm in Kenya. It was expensive to go to Africa, so I moved in with my mother in England and got a job at a nearby restaurant.