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Why Don't Chimpanzees in Gabon Crack Nuts?

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Abstract

Some populations of wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) use hammers and anvils of stone or wood to crack open nuts for food. Others do not. The aim of this study was to ask why one non-nut-cracking population, in the Lopé Reserve, Gabon, lacks this useful form of tool use. We tested 10 hypotheses: (1) nuts are absent; (2) nuts are few; (3) nuts are unsuitable; (4) hammers are absent; (5) hammers are unsuitable; (6) anvils are absent; (7) anvils are unsuitable; (8) nuts are displaced by better food items; (9) intelligence is insufficient; and (10) knowledge is insufficient. All but the last are clearly falsified, leaving by exclusion the likelihood that Lopé's chimpanzees lack the technology—knowledge of appropriate technique—to exploit this resource. Thus, the behavioral differences across populations of these apes are cultural and not environmentally dictated. This explanation is congruent with the distribution of chimpanzee nut-cracking across Africa.

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Authors and Affiliations

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

    W. C. McGrew

  2. Department of Biological and Molecular Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK94LA, Scotland

    R. M. Ham, C. E. G. Tutin & M. Fernandez

  3. Scottish Primate Research Group, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, KY163AS, Scotland

    R. M. Ham

  4. Institute of Cell, Animal and Population Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3JT, Scotland

    L. J. T. White

  5. Wildlife Conservation Society, New York, New York

    L. J. T. White

  6. Centre Internationale de Recherches Medicales de Franceville, B.P. 7847, Libreville, Gabon

    C. E. G. Tutin & M. Fernandez

Authors
  1. W. C. McGrew
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  2. R. M. Ham
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  3. L. J. T. White
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  4. C. E. G. Tutin
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  5. M. Fernandez
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McGrew, W.C., Ham, R.M., White, L.J.T. et al. Why Don't Chimpanzees in Gabon Crack Nuts?. International Journal of Primatology 18, 353–374 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026382316131

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026382316131

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