Culture of chimps essays

Culture of chimps essays The Cultures of Chimpanzees It was once entirely believed that culture is what set humans apart from the ape world. However, in multiple studies compiled over the years, there has been sufficient evidence to say that human culture is not as unique as we all once thought but instead shares its roots with chimpanzee culture. Through the definition of culture, one can argue that the age-old belief that chimpanzee culture is not essentially comparable to human culture is wrong, and that human culture actually has its roots in the common qualities we share among the ape world, particularly in what has been most studied and documented, among the chimpanzees. The basis of this argument is supported by the definition of culture, which is defined by most scientists today as social customs passed down from generation to generation through learning. Through an understanding of this concept it has been documented in multiple studies ranging from the Tai Forest to Tanzania, that certain behaviors documented in groups of monkeys in one area have not been observed among others, indicating the existence of a culture, unique to that particular group of monkeys in that particular part of Africa. These behaviors vary in such areas as nut cracking, fishing for termites, fanning flies, throwing, inspecting wounds, meat eating, hunting, knocking knuckles and many more. Actually there have been 39 different patterns of behavior of chimpanzees that have been documented that are all cultural variations, which prove the existence of not only culture, but obviously the many different cultures among chimpanzees. A specific example we learned in class was that a particular group of monkeys would wash their potatoes in the salty ocean to get the dirt off and then seemed to enjoy the salty taste to their food. This behavior was then passed on from offspring to offspring by imitation, therefore by learning. This behavior...