scholarly journals Habitual Stone-Tool Aided Extractive Foraging in White-Faced Capuchins, Cebus Capucinus

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brendan J Barrett ◽  
Claudio M Monteza-moreno ◽  
Tamara DOGANDŽIĆ ◽  
Nicolas Zwyns ◽  
Alicia IBÁÑEZ ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tool Use ◽  
National Park ◽  
Resource Limitation ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
Cebus Capucinus ◽  
Hermit Crabs ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Extractive Foraging ◽  
First Case ◽  
One Year

ABSTRACTHabitual reliance on tool use is a marked behavioral difference between wild robust (genus Sapajus) and gracile (genus Cebus) capuchin monkeys. Despite being well studied and having a rich repertoire of social and extractive foraging traditions, Cebus sp have rarely been observed engaging in tool use and have never been reported to use stone tools. In contrast, habitual tool use and stone-tool use by Sapajus is widespread. We discuss factors which might explain these differences in patterns of tool use between Cebus and Sapajus. We then report the first case of habitual stone-tool use in a gracile capuchin: a population of white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus imitator) in Coiba National Park, Panama who habitually rely on hammerstone and anvil tool use to access structurally protected food items in coastal areas including Terminalia catappa seeds, hermit crabs, marine snails, terrestrial crabs, and other items. This behavior has persisted on one island in Coiba National Park since at least 2004. From one year of camera trapping, we found that stone tool use is strongly male-biased. Of the 205 unique camera-trap-days where tool use was recorded, adult females were never observed to use stone-tools, although they were frequently recorded at the sites and engaged in scrounging behavior. Stone-tool use occurs year-round in this population, and over half of all identifiable individuals were observed participating. At the most active tool use site, 83.2% of days where capuchins were sighted corresponded with tool use. Capuchins inhabiting the Coiba archipelago are highly terrestrial, under decreased predation pressure and potentially experience resource limitation compared to mainland populations– three conditions considered important for the evolution of stone tool use. White-faced capuchin tool use in Coiba National Park thus offers unique opportunities to explore the ecological drivers and evolutionary underpinnings of stone tool use in a comparative within- and between-species context.

scholarly journals Habitual stone-tool-aided extractive foraging in white-faced capuchins, Cebus capucinus

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (8) ◽  
pp. 181002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brendan J. Barrett ◽  
Claudio M. Monteza-Moreno ◽  
Tamara Dogandžić ◽  
Nicolas Zwyns ◽  
Alicia Ibáñez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tool Use ◽  
National Park ◽  
Resource Limitation ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
Cebus Capucinus ◽  
Hermit Crabs ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Extractive Foraging ◽  
Marine Snails ◽  
First Case

Habitual reliance on tool use is a marked behavioural difference between wild robust (genus Sapajus ) and gracile (genus Cebus ) capuchin monkeys. Despite being well studied and having a rich repertoire of social and extractive foraging traditions, Cebus sp. rarely use tools and have never been observed using stone tools. By contrast, habitual tool use by Sapajus is widespread. We review theory and discuss factors which might explain these differences in patterns of tool use between Cebus and Sapajus . We then report the first case of habitual stone tool use in a gracile capuchin: a population of white-faced capuchins ( Cebus capucinus imitator ) in Coiba National Park, Panama who habitually rely on hammerstone and anvil tool use to access structurally protected food items in coastal areas including Terminalia catappa seeds, hermit crabs, marine snails, terrestrial crabs and other items. This behaviour has persisted on one island in Coiba National Park since at least 2004. From 1 year of camera trapping, we found that stone tool use is strongly male-biased. Of the 205 camera trap days where tool use was recorded, adult females were never observed to use stone tools, although they were frequently recorded at the sites and engaged in scrounging behaviour. Stone tool use occurs year-round in this population; over half of all identifiable individuals were observed participating. At the most active tool use site, 83.2% of days where capuchins were sighted corresponded with tool use. Capuchins inhabiting the Coiba archipelago are highly terrestrial, under decreased predation pressure and potentially experience resource limitation compared to mainland populations—three conditions considered important for the evolution of stone tool use. White-faced capuchin tool use in Coiba National Park thus offers unique opportunities to explore the ecological drivers and evolutionary underpinnings of stone tool use in a comparative within- and between-species context.

Stone tool use by wild capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) at Serra das Confusões National Park, Brazil

Primates ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 385-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiago Falótico ◽  
Paulo Henrique M. Coutinho ◽  
Carolina Q. Bueno ◽  
Henrique P. Rufo ◽  
Eduardo B. Ottoni
Keyword(s):  
Tool Use ◽  
National Park ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Capuchin Monkeys

scholarly journals Operationalizing niche construction theory with stone tools

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Radu Iovita ◽  
david braun ◽  
Matthew Douglass ◽  
Simon Holdaway ◽  
Sam C. Lin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Ecology ◽  
Tool Use ◽  
Niche Construction ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Extended Phenotype ◽  
Niche Construction Theory ◽  
Dual Inheritance Theory ◽  
Dual Inheritance

One of the greatest difficulties with evolutionary approaches in the study of stone tools (lithics) has been finding a mechanism for tying culture and biology in a way that preserves human agency and operates at scales that are visible in the archaeological record. The concept of niche construction, whereby organisms actively construct their environments and change the conditions for selection, could provide a solution to this problem. In this review, we evaluate the utility of niche construction theory (NCT) for stone tool archaeology. We apply NCT to lithics both as part of the ‘extended phenotype’ and as residuals or precipitates of other niche-constructing activities, suggesting ways in which archaeologists can employ niche construction feedbacks to generate testable hypotheses about stone tool use. Finally, we compare NCT to other prominent evolutionary approaches, such as human behavioral ecology and dual-inheritance theory, concluding that NCT has several advantages.

Problems in the Stone Age of South-east Asia Revisited

2007 ◽  
Vol 73 ◽  
pp. 39-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. E. G. Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Tool Use ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
Homo Erectus ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
South East Asia ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
The World ◽  
Out Of Africa

In the 13 years since ‘Problems in the Stone Age of Southeast Asia’ was published, there has been a number of significant developments. There remains a lack of early cultural material despite the possibility that first occupation of the area may date back as far as 1.8 Myrs. It seems that the first hominins in the region were essentially ‘alithic’ in their adaptation, making the reconstruction of their behaviour extremely difficult. There is also a question as to which hominin was first ‘Out of Africa’ and into Asia and a suggestion that Homo erectus is, in fact, an Asian species that may have migrated west. This has important implications for interpretations of the significance of the so-called ‘Movius Line’. By the time stone tool use does appear regularly in the record, modern humans are present but it is still hard to identify the kinds of directional changes that are associated with the Late Pleistocene elsewhere in the world. The question of when humans were able to exploit tropical forests in the region is also one that recent work explores. The recent discoveries from Flores of stone tools that appear to pre-date the arrival of modern humans, and a possibly associated ‘dwarf’ hominin, Homo floresiensis, all require re-appraisal of the nature of human activity in the region.

scholarly journals Group-specific archaeological signatures of stone tool use in wild macaques

eLife ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lydia V Luncz ◽  
Mike Gill ◽  
Tomos Proffitt ◽  
Magdalena S Svensson ◽  
Lars Kulik ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Tool Use ◽  
Macaca Fascicularis ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Old World Monkeys ◽  
Cultural Variation ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Ecological Diversity ◽  
Early Stone Age

Stone tools in the prehistoric record are the most abundant source of evidence for understanding early hominin technological and cultural variation. The field of primate archaeology is well placed to improve our scientific knowledge by using the tool behaviours of living primates as models to test hypotheses related to the adoption of tools by early stone-age hominins. Previously we have shown that diversity in stone tool behaviour between neighbouring groups of long-tailed macaques (Macaca-fascicularis) could be explained by ecological and environmental circumstances (Luncz et al., 2017b). Here however, we report archaeological evidence, which shows that the selection and reuse of tools cannot entirely be explained by ecological diversity. These results suggest that tool-use may develop differently within species of old-world monkeys, and that the evidence of material culture can differ within the same timeframe at local geographic scales and in spite of shared environmental and ecological settings.

Determining Stone Tool Use: Chemical and Morphological Analyses of Residues on Experimentally Manufactured Stone Tools

1997 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 245-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.H. Jahren ◽  
N. Toth ◽  
K. Schick ◽  
J.D. Clark ◽  
R.G. Amundson
Keyword(s):  
Tool Use ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
Stone Tool

scholarly journals Human activity negatively affects stone tool-using Burmese long-tailed macaquesMacaca fascicularis aureain Laem Son National Park, Thailand

Oryx ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 535-543 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Gumert ◽  
Yuzuru Hamada ◽  
Suchinda Malaivijitnond
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
National Park ◽  
Anthropogenic Impact ◽  
Macaca Fascicularis ◽  
Canis Familiaris ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
Domestic Dogs ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Invertebrate Prey ◽  
The Impact

AbstractAnimal traditions can affect survival by improving how individuals use their environment. They are inherited through social learning and are restricted to small subpopulations. As a result, traditions are rare and their preservation needs to be considered in biodiversity conservation. We studied Burmese long-tailed macaquesMacaca fascicularis aurealiving on Piak Nam Yai Island in Laem Son National Park, Thailand, which maintain a rare stone tool-using tradition for processing hard-shelled invertebrate prey along the island's shores. We found the population had 192 individuals in nine groups and most individuals used stone tools. This population is under pressure from the local human community through the development of farms and release of domestic dogsCanis familiarisonto the island. The level of anthropogenic impact varied in each macaque groups' range and juvenile–infant composition varied with impact. The proportion of young was smaller in groups overlapping farms and was negatively correlated with the amount of dog activity in their range. We also found that coastal use by macaques was negatively related to living near plantations and that the dogs displaced macaques from the shores in 93% of their encounters. We conclude that human impact is negatively affecting Piak Nam Yai's macaques and are concerned this could disrupt the persistence of their stone-use tradition. we discuss the impact and the potential consequences, and we recommend better protection of coastal areas within Laem Son National Park.

scholarly journals An earlier origin for stone tool making: implications for cognitive evolution and the transition to Homo

2016 ◽  
Vol 371 (1698) ◽  
pp. 20150233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason E. Lewis ◽  
Sonia Harmand
Keyword(s):  
Human Evolution ◽  
Tool Use ◽  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Cognitive Evolution ◽  
Major Transitions ◽  
Evolutionary Changes ◽  
Form Part ◽  
Behavioural Diversity

The discovery of the earliest known stone tools at Lomekwi 3 (LOM3) from West Turkana, Kenya, dated to 3.3 Ma, raises new questions about the mode and tempo of key adaptations in the hominin lineage. The LOM3 tools date to before the earliest known fossils attributed to Homo at 2.8 Ma. They were made and deposited in a more C 3 environment than were the earliest Oldowan tools at 2.6 Ma. Their discovery leads to renewed investigation on the timing of the emergence of human-like manipulative capabilities in early hominins and implications for reconstructing cognition. The LOM3 artefacts form part of an emerging paradigm shift in palaeoanthropology, in which: tool-use and tool-making behaviours are not limited to the genus Homo ; cranial, post-cranial and behavioural diversity in early Homo is much wider than previously thought; and these evolutionary changes may not have been direct adaptations to living in savannah grassland environments. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Major transitions in human evolution'.

Experimental Use of Clovis Weaponry and Tools on African Elephants

1989 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 766-784 ◽  
Author(s):  
George C. Frison
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
African Elephants ◽  
Projectile Points ◽  
Chipped Stone ◽  
Positive Statements ◽  
Hwange National Park ◽  
Experimental Use

Clovis projectile points and chipped-stone tools have been recovered in a number of archaeological sites in the New World, but these cannot be tested on mammoths, which we know from the archaeological evidence Clovis hunters were able to procure. Extensive culling of elephants in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe provided the necessary animals to test replicas of Clovis tools and weaponry. The experiments leave little doubt that Clovis projectile points can inflict lethal wounds on African elephants and that simple stone tools will perform the necessary butchering tasks. The physiology of mammoths and elephants is similar enough to make positive statements on the potential of this kind of stone-tool and weaponry assemblage, but we will never be able to compare elephant and mammoth behavior directly.

scholarly journals Long-tailed macaques select mass of stone tools according to food type

2013 ◽  
Vol 368 (1630) ◽  
pp. 20120413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Gumert ◽  
Suchinda Malaivijitnond
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Macaca Fascicularis ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
Design Tool ◽  
Food Type ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Tool Selection ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Quasi Experimental

Tool selection can affect the success of a tool-based feeding task, and thus tool-using animals should select appropriate tools when processing foods. We performed a field experiment on Piak Nam Yai Island in Laem Son National Park, Thailand, to test whether Burmese long-tailed macaques ( Macaca fascicularis aurea ) selected stone tools according to food type. We baited the island's shores with stone sets (‘tool tests’) in an effort to attract macaques to use stones presented in a quasi-experimental design. Tool tests were placed at 344 locations for 126 days over a 2 year period, with each set containing four stones of different mass (categories: X, 40–60 g; S, 90–100 g; M, 150–200 g; and L, 400–1000 g). Tool tests were checked when we could access them. The number of times each tool test was checked varied (1–32), for a total of 1950 checks. We also studied 375 non-experimental stone tools that were found at naturally occurring tool-use sites. Our data were not collected by direct observation, but by inspecting stones after use. We found an association between stone mass and food type. In the tool tests, we found S-stones were chosen most often for attached oysters, and L-stones were chosen most often for unattached foods. L-stones were almost always chosen for larger unattached foods (greater than 3 cm length), while for smaller unattached foods (less than or equal to 3 cm length) selection was less skewed to L-stones and more evenly distributed between the M- and L-stone categories. In the non-experimental study, we found that mass varied significantly across five food categories (range: 16–5166 g). We reveal more detail on macaque stone tool mass than previous studies, showing that macaques select differing stone masses across a variety of tool-processed foods. Our study is the first step in investigating the behavioural and cognitive mechanisms that macaques are using during tool selection.

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