11.11.2016 | TOP NEWS, Sustainability and Complexity in Ape Habitat

A new behavioural variant in wild chimpanzees: Algae fishing in Bakoun, Guinea

Chimpanzee fishing algae.

Note for the media: Use of the pictures provided by iDiv is permitted for reports related to this media release only, and under the condition that credit is given to the picture originator.

Leipzig. Chimpanzees often use tools to extract or consume food but which tools they choose for which purpose can differ depending on where they live. In 2010, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, initiated the ‘Pan African Programme: The Cultured Chimpanzee’ to characterize and understand the differences in chimpanzee behaviours in un- and poorly studied ape populations across Africa. This is how the researchers encountered a new behavioural variant: Algae fishing with long robust tools at a temporary research site in Bakoun, Guinea. Involved in the study was also iDiv member Hjalmar S. Kühl who leeds the junior research group "Sustainability and Complexity in Ape Habitat" at MPI EVA and iDiv. Read more in the press release of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology: https://www.mpg.de/10816806/chimpanzees-fishing-algaePublication:
Christophe Boesch, Ammie K. Kalan, Anthony Agbor, Mimi Arandjelovic, Paula Dieguez, Vincent Lapeyre, Hjalmar S. Kühl (2016): Chimpanzees routinely fish for algae with tools during the dry season in Bakoun, Guinea. American Journal of Primatology; 4 November, 2016.
https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajp.22613

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