To drum or not to drum: Selectivity in tree buttress drumming by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in the Nimba Mountains, Guinea.
Publication Date
2022-07Journal Title
Am J Primatol
ISSN
0275-2565
Publisher
Wiley
Language
en
Type
Article
This Version
AO
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Fitzgerald, M., Willems, E. P., Gaspard Soumah, A., Matsuzawa, T., & Koops, K. (2022). To drum or not to drum: Selectivity in tree buttress drumming by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in the Nimba Mountains, Guinea.. Am J Primatol https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.23382
Description
Funder: Stichting Lucie Burgers; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013496
Funder: Newnham College, University of Cambridge; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000663
Funder: Gates Cambridge Trust; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100005370
Funder: Homerton College, University of Cambridge; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100008420
Abstract
Chimpanzees live in fission-fusion social organizations, which means that party size, composition, and spatial distribution are constantly in flux. Moreover, chimpanzees use a remarkably extensive repertoire of vocal and nonvocal forms of communication, thought to help convey information in such a socially and spatially dynamic setting. One proposed form of nonvocal communication in chimpanzees is buttress drumming, in which an individual hits a tree buttress with its hands and/or feet, thereby producing a low-frequency acoustic signal. It is often presumed that this behavior functions to communicate over long distances and is, therefore, goal-oriented. If so, we would expect chimpanzees to exhibit selectivity in the choice of trees and buttresses used in buttress drumming. Selectivity is a key attribute of many other goal-directed chimpanzee behaviors, such as nut-cracking and ant dipping. Here, we investigate whether chimpanzees at the Seringbara study site in the Nimba Mountains, Guinea, West Africa, show selectivity in their buttress drumming behavior. Our results indicate that Seringbara chimpanzees are more likely to use larger trees and select buttresses that are thinner and have a greater surface area. These findings imply that tree buttress drumming is not a random act, but rather goal-oriented and requires knowledge of suitable trees and buttresses. Our results also point to long-distance communication as a probable function of buttress drumming based on selectivity for buttress characteristics likely to impact sound propagation. This study provides a foundation for further assessing the cognitive underpinnings and functions of buttress drumming in wild chimpanzees.
Keywords
RESEARCH ARTICLE, RESEARCH ARTICLES, behavioral selectivity, buttress drumming, long‐distance communication, western chimpanzees
Sponsorship
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (#07102010, #12002009, #16002001, #16H06283, #20002001, #24000001, Core‐to‐core CCSN, Leading Graduate Program‐U04‐PWS)
Identifiers
ajp23382
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.23382
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/335795
Rights
Licence:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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