Abstract
The use of leaves for drinking water is a widespread tool-use behavior among chimpanzees. Although this tool-use behavior is widely described as the use of leaf sponges, it can actually be found in three different forms: leaf sponges, leaf-folding, and leaf spoons. Among the chimpanzee community of Bossou, we can observe all three forms, albeit in different frequencies. Here I describe the longitudinal record of manufacture and use of leaf tools for drinking water, highlighting the learning process underlying the acquisition of the skill. The degree of laterality evident in both immature and mature performers is also presented here. The use of leaves for drinking water emerges at the age of 1.5 years old, but the manufacture of leaf tools only starts at 3.5 years of age. Infants and juveniles were observed to use drinking tools that had been discarded by other individuals after use. Concerning handedness in general, the chimpanzees are ambidextrous, with some individuals biased to one side.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Biro D, Inoue-Nakamura N, Tonooka R, Yamakoshi G, Sousa C, Matsuzawa T (2003) Cultural innovation and transmission of tool use in wild chimpanzees: evidence from field experiments. Anim Cogn 6:213–223
Biro D, Sousa C, Matsuzawa T (2006) Ontogeny and cultural propagation of tool use by wild chimpanzees at Bossou, Guinea: case studies in nut cracking and leaf folding. In: Matsuzawa T, Tomonaga M, Tanaka M (eds) Cognitive development in chimpanzees. Springer, Tokyo, pp 476–508
Boesch C, Boesch H (1990) Tool use and tool making in wild chimpanzees. Folia Primatol 54:86–99
Ghiglieri MP (1984) The chimpanzees of Kibale Forest. Columbia University Press, New York
Goodall J (1964) Tool-using and aimed throwing in a community of free-living chimpanzees. Nature 201:1264–1266
Goodall J (1968) The behaviour of free-living chimpanzees in the Gombe Stream Reserve. Anim Behav Monogr 1:163–311
Goodall J (1986) The chimpanzees of Gombe: patterns of behavior. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge
Humle T (2006) Ant dipping in chimpanzees: an example of how microecological variables, tool use, and culture reflect the cognitive abilities of chimpanzees. In: Matsuzawa T, Tomonaga M, Tanaka M (eds) Cognitive development in chimpanzees. Springer, Tokyo, pp 452–475
Humle T, Snowdon CT, Matsuzawa T (2009) Social influences on the acquisition of ant-dipping among the wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) of Bossou, Guinea, West Africa. Anim Cogn. DOI: 10.1007/s10071-009-0272-6
Inoue-Nakamura N, Matsuzawa T (1997) Development of stone tool use by wild chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). J Comp Psychol 111:159–173
Lonsdorf EV (2005) Sex differences in the development of termite-fishing skills in the wild chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii, of Gombe National Park, Tanzania. Anim Behav 70:673–683
Lonsdorf EV (2006) What is the role of mothers in the acquisition of termite-fishing behaviors in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii)? Anim Cogn 9:36–46
Lonsdorf EV, Eberly LE, Pusey AE (2004) Sex differences in learning in chimpanzees. Nature 428 (6984):715–716
Marchant LF, McGrew WC (2007) Ant fishing by wild chimpanzees is not lateralised. Primates 48:22–26
Matsuzawa T (1994) Field experiments on use of stone tools by chimpanzees in the wild. In: Wrangham RW, McGrew WC, de Waal FBM, Heltne PG (eds) Chimpanzee cultures. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, pp 351–370
Matsuzawa T (1996) Chimpanzee intelligence in nature and in captivity: isomorphism of symbol use and tool use. In: McGrew WC, Marchant LF, Nishida T (eds) Great ape societies. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 196–209
Matsuzawa T (1999) Communication and tool use in chimpanzees: cultural and social context. In: Hauser M, Konishi M (eds) The design of animal communication. MIT Press, Cambridge, pp 645–671
Matsuzawa T, Yamakoshi G (1996) Comparison of chimpanzee material culture between Bossou and Nimba, West Africa. In: Russon AE, Bard KA, Parker S (eds) Reaching into thought: the mind of the great apes. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 211–232
McGrew WC (1977) Socialization and object manipulation of wild chimpanzees. In: Chevalier-Skolnikoff S, Poirier F (eds) Primate biosocial development. Garland, New York
McGrew WC (1992) Chimpanzee material culture: implications for human evolution. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
McGrew WC (2004) The cultured chimpanzee: reflections on cultural primatology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Nishida T (1990a) A quarter century of research in the Mahale mountains: an overview. In: Nishida T (ed) The chimpanzees of the Mahale mountains: sexual and life history strategies. University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo, pp 3–35
Quiatt D, Kiwede ZT (1994) Leaf sponge drinking by the Budongo forest chimpanzees (abstract). Am J Primatol 33:236
Sousa C, Biro D, Matsuzawa T (2009) Field experiments on tool use in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) at Bossou: parallel records of acquisition and handedness in the use of leaves for drinking water and nut-cracking. Anim Cogn. DOI: 10.1007/s10071-009-0278-0
Sugiyama Y (1981a) Observations on the population dynamics and behavior of wild chimpanzees at Bossou, Guinea, in 1979–1980. Primates 22:435–444
Sugiyama Y (1981b) Yasei chinpanji no sekai: Jinrui shinka heno michisuji (in Japanese). Kodansha, Tokyo
Sugiyama Y (1984) Population dynamics of wild chimpanzees at Bossou, Guinea, between 1976–1983. Primates 25:391–400
Sugiyama Y (1989a) Description of some characteristic behaviors and discussion on their propagation process among chimpanzees of Bossou, Guinea. In: Sugiyama Y (ed) Behavioral studies of wild chimpanzees at Bossou, Guinea. Kyoto University Primate Research Institute, Inuyama, pp 43–76
Sugiyama Y (1993) Local variation of tools and tool use among wild chimpanzee populations. In: Berthelet A, Chavaillon J (eds) The use of tools by human and non-human primates. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp 175–187
Sugiyama Y (1994a) Age-specific birth-rate and lifetime reproductive success of chimpanzees at Bossou, Guinea. Am J Primatol 32:311–318
Sugiyama Y (1995a) Drinking tools of wild chimpanzees at Bossou. Am J Primatol 37:263–269
Sugiyama Y, Koman J (1979a) Social structure and dynamics of wild chimpanzees at Bossou, Guinea. Primates 20:323–339
Sugiyama Y, Koman J (1979b) Tool-using and making behavior in wild chimpanzees at Bossou, Guinea. Primates 20:513–524
Tonooka R (2001) Leaf-folding behavior for drinking water by wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) at Bossou, Guinea. Anim Cogn 4:325–334
Tonooka R, Inoue N, Matsuzawa T (1994) Leaf-folding behavior for drinking water by wild chimpanzees at Bossou, Guinea: a field experiment and leaf selectivity (in Japanese with English summary). Primate Res 10:307–313
Whiten A, Goodall J, McGrew WC, Nishida T, Reynolds V, Sugiyama Y, Tutin CEG, Wrangham RW, Boesch C (1999) Cultures in chimpanzees. Nature 399:682–685
Whiten A, Goodall J, McGrew WC, Nishida T, Reynolds V, Sugiyama Y, Tutin CEG, Wrangham R, Boesch C (2001) Charting cultural variation in chimpanzees. Behaviour 138:1481–1516
Wrangham RW (1992) Living naturally: aspects of wild chimpanzee management. In: Erwin J, Landon JC (eds) Chimpanzee observation and public health. Diagnon, Rockville, pp 71–81
Acknowledgments
The following researchers contributed to the data collection described in this chapter: Tetsuro Matsuzawa, Rikako Tonooka, Dora Biro, Misato Hayashi, and Susana Carvalho. I am also grateful to Yukimaru Sugiyama who began the study of wild chimpanzees at Bossou and to local guides at Bossou who offered invaluable help in the field (Guano Goumy, Tino Camara, Paquilé Chérif, Pascal Goumy, Marcel Doré, Boniface Zogbila, Jiles Doré, and Henry Gbéregbé). The author thanks the Direction National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique, République de Guinée, for permission to conduct field work at Bossou. The research was supported by Grants-in-Aid for scientific research from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, and Culture of Japan (grants 07102010, 12002009, 10CE2005, and the 21COE program to Tetsuro Matsuzawa).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sousa, C. (2011). Use of Leaves for Drinking Water. In: Matsuzawa, T., Humle, T., Sugiyama, Y. (eds) The Chimpanzees of Bossou and Nimba. Primatology Monographs. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-53921-6_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-53921-6_9
Publisher Name: Springer, Tokyo
Print ISBN: 978-4-431-53920-9
Online ISBN: 978-4-431-53921-6
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)