Orangutan Cultures and the Evolution of Material Culture
Geographic variation in some aspects of chimpanzee behavior has been interpreted as evidence for culture. Here we document similar geographic variation in orangutan behaviors. Moreover, as expected under a cultural interpretation, we find a correlation between geographic distance and cultural differ...
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Published in | Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 299; no. 5603; pp. 102 - 105 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Washington, DC
American Association for the Advancement of Science
03.01.2003
The American Association for the Advancement of Science |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Geographic variation in some aspects of chimpanzee behavior has been interpreted as evidence for culture. Here we document similar geographic variation in orangutan behaviors. Moreover, as expected under a cultural interpretation, we find a correlation between geographic distance and cultural difference, a correlation between the abundance of opportunities for social learning and the size of the local cultural repertoire, and no effect of habitat on the content of culture. Hence, great-ape cultures exist, and may have done so for at least 14 million years. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 |
ISSN: | 0036-8075 1095-9203 |
DOI: | 10.1126/science.1078004 |