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9 - Orangutan tool use and the evolution of technology

from Part III - Ecology and culture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2013

By
Ellen J. M. Meulman  and
Carel P. van Schaik
Edited by
Crickette M. Sanz ,
Josep Call  and
Christophe Boesch
Ellen J. M. Meulman
Affiliation:
Anthropological Institute and Museum, University of Zürich
Carel P. van Schaik
Affiliation:
Anthropological Institute and Museum, University of Zürich
Crickette M. Sanz
Affiliation:
Washington University, St Louis
Josep Call
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Evolutionäre Anthropologie, Germany
Christophe Boesch
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Evolutionäre Anthropologie, Germany
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Summary

Introduction

Commonly referred to as a hallmark of human evolution, tool use is often considered a complex skill. Paradoxically, however, tool use seems to be widespread in the animal kingdom and may consist of fairly simple behavioral actions. In this chapter we try to relate these somewhat contradictory views to the relatively rare occurrence of habitual and complex tool use in wild orangutans, especially when compared to wild chimpanzees. We propose that, in addition to the previously suggested factors (i.e., extractive foraging, social tolerance and intelligence), terrestriality may have been instrumental in the evolution of especially habitual (sensu McGrew & Marchant, 1997) and complex tool use, thus explaining the “orangutan tool paradox.” Our preliminary comparison of eight orangutan and ten chimpanzee study populations (descriptively, via a principal component analysis [PCA], and by testing predictions related to the four factors) does indeed point in this direction.

Defining tool use

Although tool use has been defined in various ways (see Shumaker et al., 2011 for a detailed discussion), we choose to follow the definition of Parker and Gibson (1977):

Tool use is the manipulation of an object (the tool), not part of the actor’s anatomical equipment and not attached to a substrate, to change the position, action, or condition of another object, either directly through the action of the tool on the object or of the object on the tool, or through action at a distance as in aimed throwing.

(Modified from Parker & Gibson, 1977; Sanz & Morgan, 2007)
Type
Chapter
Information
Tool Use in Animals
Cognition and Ecology
 , pp. 176 - 202
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2013

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