Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Using the Tools at Hand: Manual Laterality and Elementary Technology in Cebus spp. and Pan spp.

  • Published:
International Journal of Primatology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Cebus and Pan appear to be a remarkable example of evolutionary convergence in behavioral ecology. We examine their apparently analogous solutions to problems posed by laterality of hand function and elementary technology. We scrutinize appropriate published data in a meta-analysis, focusing on Cebus apella and C. capucinus and on Pan paniscus and P. troglodytes. We compare behavioral data in terms of captive versus wild, and tool use versus non-tool use, but notable gaps exist in the data, especially for bonobos. Cebus and Pan spp. are equivalent tool users in captivity, but chimpanzees are notably more extensively so in nature. For hand preference, captive bonobos and wild and captive chimpanzees show ambipreference for non-tool-use patterns. For both Cebus spp. and Pan spp., there is a tendency for individuals to be committed exclusively to one hand or the other for tool use. The data for laterality of hand function fit consistently into the five-level model proposed by McGrew and Marchant (1996).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • Adang, O. M. J. (1986). Exploring the social environment: A developmental study of teasing in chimpanzees. Ethology 73: 136–160.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alp, R. (1997). “Stepping-sticks” and “seat-sticks”: New types of tools used by wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in Sierra Leone. Am. J. Primatol. 41: 45–52.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, J. R. (1990). Use of objects as hammers to open nuts by capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). Folia Primatol. 54: 138–145.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, J. R. (1996). Chimpanzees and capuchin monkeys: Comparative cognition. In Russon, A. E., Bard, K. A., and Parker, S. T. (eds.), Reaching into Thought: The Minds of the Great Apes, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 23–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Antinucci, F., and Visalberghi, E. (1986). Tool use in Cebus apella: A case study. Int. J. Primatol. 7: 351–363.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, B. B. (1980). Animal Tool Behavior: The Use and Manufacture of Tools by Animals, Garland STPM Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boesch, C. (1991a). The effects of leopard predation on grouping patterns in forest chimpanzees. Behaviour 117: 220–242.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boesch, C. (1991b). Handedness in wild chimpanzees. Int. J. Primatol. 12: 541–558.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boinski, S. (1988). Use of a club by a wild white-faced capuchin (Cebus capucinus) to attack a venomous snake (Bothrops asper). Am. J. Primatol. 14: 177–179.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brewer, S. M., and McGrew, W. C. (1990). Chimpanzee use of a tool-set to get honey. Folia Primatol. 54: 100–104.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Byrne, R. W., and Byrne, J. M. (1993). Complex leaf gathering skills of mountain gorillas (Gorilla g. beringei): Variability and standardization. Am. J. Primatol. 31: 241–261.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman, C. A. (1986). Boa constrictor predation and group response in white-faced cebus monkeys. Biotropica 18: 171–172.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chevalier-Skolnikoff, S. (1989). Spontaneous tool-use and sensorimotor intelligence in Cebus compared with other monkeys and apes. Behav. Brain Sci. 12: 561–627.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chevalier-Skolnikoff, S. (1990). Tool use by wild cebus monkeys at Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica. Primates 31: 375–383.

    Google Scholar 

  • Colell, M., Segarra, M. D., and Sabater Pi, J. (1995). Hand preferences in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), bonobos (Pan paniscus), and orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) in food-reaching and other daily activities. Int. J. Primatol. 16: 413–434.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Vleeschouwer, K., van Elsacker, L., and Verheyen, R. F. (1995). Effect of posture on hand preferences during experimental food reaching in bonobos (Pan paniscus) J. Comp. Psychol. 109: 203–207.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandes, M. E. B. (1991). Tool use and predation of oysters (Crassostrea rhizophrae) by the tufted capuchin, Cebus apella apella, in brackish water mangrove swamp. Primates 32: 539–531.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finch, G. (1941). Chimpanzee handedness. Science 94: 117–118.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fragaszy, D. M., and Mitchell, S. R. (1990). Hand preference and performance on unimanual and bimanual tasks in capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). J. Comp. Psychol. 104: 275–282.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fragaszy, D. M., and Visalberghi, E. (1989). Social influences on the acquisition of tool-using behaviors in tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). J. Comp. Psychol. 103: 159–170.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fruth, B. (1995). Nests and Nest Groups in Wild Bonobos (Pan paniscus): Ecological and Behavioral Correlates, Verlag Shaker, Aachen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fruth, B., and Hohmann, G. (1996). The well-grounded bonobo (Pan paniscus): Terrestriality in a wild, habituated community at Lomako (Répubique du Zaïre) (submitted for publication).

  • Gijzen, A. (1972). Bonnes manières á table chez less anthropoïdes en captivité. Zoo (Antwerp) 38: 15–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hannah, A. C., and McGrew, W. C. (1987). Chimpanzees using stones to crack open oil palm nuts in Liberia. Primates 28: 31–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heestand, J. E. (1986). Behavioral Lateralization in Four Species of Apes? University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, MI.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, W. D. (1993). Posture and reaching in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus). J. Comp. Psychol. 107: 162–168.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, W. D. (1994a). Hand preferences for bimanual feeding in 140 captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): Rearing and ontogenetic determinants. Dev. Psychobiol. 27: 395–407.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, W. D. (1994b). Hand preferences for simple reaching in juvenile chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): Continuity in development. Dev. Psychol. 31: 619–625.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, W. D., and de Waal, F. B. M. (1995). Behavioral laterality in captive bonobos (Pan paniscus): Replication and extension. Int. J. Primatol. 16: 261–276.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, W. D., Bard, K. A., Jones, A., and Bales, S. L. (1993a). Behavioral laterality in captive bonobos (Pan paniscus). J. Comp. Psychol. 107: 403–410.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, W. D., Bennett, A. J., Bales, S. L., Lee, J., and Ward, J. (1993b). Chimpanzee hand preference in throwing and infant cradling: Implications for the origin of human handedness. Curr. Anthropol. 34: 786–790.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ingmanson, E. J. (1996). Tool-using behavior in wild Pan paniscus: Social and ecological considerations. In Russon, A. E., Bard, K. A., and Parker, S. T. (eds.), Reaching into Thought: The Minds of the Great Apes, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 190–210.

    Google Scholar 

  • Izawa, K., and Itani, J. (1966). Chimpanzees in Kasakati Basin, Tanganyika. (I) Ecological study in the rainy season 1963–1964. Kyoto Univ. Afr. Stud. 1: 73–156.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jordan, C. (1982). Object manipulation and tool-use in captive pygmy chimpanzees (Pan paniscus).J. Hum. Evol. 11: 35–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kano, T. (1982). The use of leafy twigs for rain cover by the pygmy chimpanzees of Wamba. Primates 23: 453–457.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kano, T. (1992). The Last Ape. Pygmy Chimpanzee Behavior and Ecology, Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitahara-Frisch, J., and Norikoshi, K. (1982). Spontaneous sponge-making in captive chimpanzees. J. Hum. Evol. 11: 41–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitahara-Frisch, J., Norikoshi, K., and Hara, K. (1987). Use of a bone fragment as a step towards secondary tool use in captive chimpanzees. Primate Rep. 18: 33–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Köhler, W. (1925). The Mentality of Apes, Harcourt, Brace, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohts, N. (1935). Infant Ape and Human Child (Instincts, Emotions, Play, Habits). Scientific Memoirs of the Museum Darwinianum, Moscow.

  • Kortlandt, A. (1965). How do chimpanzees use weapons when fighting leopards? Yearbook of the American Philosophical Society, pp. 327–332.

  • Kortlandt, A. (1986). The use of stone tools by wild-living chimpanzees and earliest hominids. J. Hum. Evol. 15: 77–132.

    Google Scholar 

  • Limongelli, L., Sonetti, M., and Visalberghi, E. (1994). Hand preference of tufted capuchins (Cebus apella) in tool-using tasks. In Anderson, J., Roeder, J., Thierry, B., and Herrenschmidt, N. (eds.), Current Primatology, Vol. III. Behavioural Neuroscience, Physiology, and Reproduction, Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, pp. 9–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marchant, L. F. (1983). Hand Preference Among Captive Island Groups of Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, MI.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marchant, L. F., McGrew, W. C., and Eibl-Eibesfeldt, I. (1995). Is human handedness universal? Ethological analyses from three traditional cultures. Ethology 101: 239–258.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marchant, L. F., and McGrew, W. C. (1996). Laterality of limb function in wild chimpanzees of Gombe National Park: Comprehensive study of spontaneous activities. J. Hum. Evol. 30: 427–443.

    Google Scholar 

  • Masataka, N. (1990). Handedness of capuchin monkeys. Folia Primatol. 55: 189–192.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Matsuzawa, T. (1991). Nesting cups and metatools in chimpanzees. Behav. Brain Sci. 14: 570–593.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matsuzawa, T. (1994). Field experiments on use of stone tools in the wild. In Wrangham, R. W., McGrew, W. C., de Waal, F. B. M., and Heltne, P. G. (eds.), Chimpanzee Cultures, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 351–370.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matsuzawa, T. (1996). Chimpanzee intelligence in nature and in captivity: Isomorphism of symbol use and tool use. In McGrew, W. C., Marchant, L. F., and Nishida, T. (eds.), Great Ape Societies, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 196–209.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGrew, W. C. (1992). Chimpanzee Material Culture: Implications for Human Evolution, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGrew, W. C., and Marchant, L. F. (1996). On which side of the apes? Ethological studies of laterality of hand use. In McGrew, W. C., Marchant, L. F., and Nishida, T. (eds.), Great Ape Societies, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 255–272.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGrew, W. C., and Tutin, C. E. G. (1972). Chimpanzee dentistry. J. Am. Dent. Assoc. 85: 1198–1204.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Menzel, E. W., Jr. (1973). Further observations on the use of ladders in a group of young chimpanzees. Folia Primatol. 19: 450–457.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nishida, T. (1973). The ant-gathering behaviour by the use of tools among wild chimpanzees of the Mahali Mountains. J. Hum. Evol. 2: 357–370.

    Google Scholar 

  • Panger, M. (1997). Hand Preference and Object Use in Free-Ranging White-Faced Capuchin Monkeys (Cebus capucinus) in Costa Rica, Ph.D. thesis, University of California, Berkeley.

  • Parker, S. T., and Gibson, K. R. (1977). Object manipulation, tool use and sensorimotor intelligence as feeding adaptations in cebus monkeys and great apes. J. Hum. Evol. 6: 623–641.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sugiyama, Y. (1989). Description of some characteristic behaviors and discussion on their propagation process among chimpanzees of Bossou, Guinea. In Sugiyama, Y. (eds.), Behavioral Studies of Wild Chimpanzees at Bossou, Guinea, Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University, Inuyama, pp. 43–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sugiyama, Y., Fushimi, T., Sakura, O., and Matsuzawa, T. (1993). Hand preference and tool use in wild chimpanzees. Primates 34: 151–159.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sumita, K., Kitahara-Frisch, J., and Norikoshi, K. (1985). The acquisition of stone-tool use in captive chimpanzees. Primates 26: 168–181.

    Google Scholar 

  • Takeshita, H., and van Hooff, J. A. R. A. M. (1996). Tool use by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) of the Arnhem Zoo community. Japan. Psychol. Res. 38: 163–173.

    Google Scholar 

  • Takeshita, H., and Walraven, V. (1996). A comparative study of the variety and complexity of object manipulation in captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus). Primates 37: 423–441.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tonooka, R., and Matsuzawa, T. (1995). Hand preferences of captive chimpanzees (Pan paniscus) in simple reaching for food. Int. J. Primatol. 16: 17–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Toth, N., Schick, K. D., Savage-Rumbaugh, E. S., Sevcik, R. A., and Rumbaugh, D. M. (1993). Pan the tool-maker: Investigations into the stone tool-making and tool-using capabilities of a bonobo (Pan paniscus). J. Archaeol. Sci. 20: 81–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Elsacker, L., and Walraven, V. (1994). The spontaneous use of a pineapple as a recipient by a captive bonobo (Pan paniscus). Mammalia 58: 159–162.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Schaik, C. P., Fox, E. A., and Sitompul, A. F. (1996). Manufacture and use of tool sin wild Sumatran orangutans: Implications for human evolution. Naturwissenschaften 83: 186–188.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Visalberghi, E. (1990). Tool use in Cebus. Folia Primatol. 54: 146–154.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Visalberghi, E., and Limongelli, L. (1996). Acting and understanding: Tool use revisited through the minds of capuchin monkeys. In Russon, A. E., Bard, K. A., and Parker, S. T. (eds.), Reaching into Thought: The Minds of the Great Apes, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 57–79.

    Google Scholar 

  • Visalberghi, E., and Trinca, L. (1989). Tool use in capuchin monkeys: Distinguishing between performing and understanding. Primates 30: 511–521.

    Google Scholar 

  • Visalberghi, E., Fragaszy, D. M., and Savage-Rumbaugh, E. S. (1995). Performance in a tool-using task by common chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), bonobos (Pan paniscus), and orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), and capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). J. Comp. Psychol. 109: 52–60.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Walraven, V., van Elsacker, L., and Verheyen, R. F. (1993). Spontaneous object manipulation in captive bonobos (Pan paniscus). In Bonobo Tidings, Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, pp. 25–34.

  • Westergaard, G. C. (1987). The manufacture and use of tools by capuchin monkeys. J. Comp. Psychol. 101: 159–168.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westergaard, G. C. (1991). Hand preference in the use and manufacture of tools by tufted capuchin (Cebus apella) and lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus) monkeys. J. Comp. Psychol. 105: 172–176.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Westergaard, G. C. (1994). The subsistence technology of capuchins. Int. J. Primatol. 15: 899–906.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westergaard, G. C., and Fragaszy, D. M. (1985). Effects of manipulable objects on the activity of captive capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). Zoo Biol. 4: 317–327.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westergaard, G. C., and Fragaszy, D. M. (1987). The manufacture and use of tools by capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). J. Comp. Psychol. 101: 159–168.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westergaard, G. C., and Suomi, S. J. (1993a). Hand preference in capuchin monkeys varies with age. Primates 34: 295–299.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westergaard, G. C., and Suomi, S. J. (1993b). Hand preference in the use of nut-cracking tools by tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). Folia Primatol. 61: 38–42.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Westergaard, G. C., and Suomi, S. J. (1993c). Use of a tool-set by capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). Primates 34: 459–462.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westergaard, G. C., and Suomi, S. J. (1994a). Aimed throwing of stones by tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). Hum. Evol. 9: 323–329.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westergaard, G. C., and Suomi, S. J. (1994b). Asymmetrical manipulation in the use of tools by tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). Folia Primatol. 63: 96–98.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Westergaard, G. C., and Suomi, S. J. (1994c). A simple stone-tool technology in monkeys. J. Hum. Evol. 27: 399–404.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westergaard, G. C., and Suomi, S. J. (1994d). Stone-tool bone-surface modification by monkeys. Curr. Anthropol. 35: 468–470.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westergaard, G. C., and Suomi, S. J. (1994e). The use and modification of bone tools by capuchin monkeys. Curr. Anthropol. 35: 75–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westergaard, G. C., and Suomi, S. J. (1994f). The use of probing tools by tufted capuchins (Cebus apella): Evidence for increased right-hand preference with age. Int. J. Primatol. 15: 521–529.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westergaard, G. C., and Suomi, S. J. (1995a). The manufacture and use of bamboo tools by monkeys: Possible implications for the development of material culture among East Asian hominids. J. Archaeol. Sci. 22: 677–681.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westergaard, G. C., and Suomi, S. J. (1995b). The production and use of digging tools by monkeys: A nonhuman primate model of a hominid subsistence activity. J. Anthropol. Res. 51: 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westergaard, G. C., and Suomi, S. J. (1995c). The stone tools of capuchins (Cebus apella). Int. J. Primatol. 16: 1017–1024.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westergaard, G. C., and Suomi, S. J. (1996a). Hand preference for stone artefact production and tool-use by monkeys: Possible implications for the evolution of right-handedness in hominids. J. Hum. Evol. 30: 291–298.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westergaard, G. C., and Suomi, S. J. (1996b). Lateral bias for rotational behavior in tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). J. Comp. Psychol. 110: 199–202.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Westergaard, G. C., Greene, J. A., Babitz, M. A., and Suomi, S. J. (1995). Pestle use and modification by tufted capuchins (Cebus apella). Int. J. Primatol. 16: 643–651.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yamakoshi, G., and Sugiyama, Y. (1995). Pestle-pounding behavior of wild chimpanzees at Bossou, Guinea: A newly observed tool-using behavior. Primates 36: 489–500.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Gerontology and Anthropology, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, 45056

    W. C. McGrew & L. F. Marchant

  2. Department of Zoology, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, 45056

    L. F. Marchant

Authors
  1. W. C. McGrew
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. L. F. Marchant
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

McGrew, W.C., Marchant, L.F. Using the Tools at Hand: Manual Laterality and Elementary Technology in Cebus spp. and Pan spp.. International Journal of Primatology 18, 787–810 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026347913888

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026347913888

Search

Navigation