Non Human Primates Essay

there are many arguments surrounding what defines culture and how it is possible to label all animals, including non-human primates, as exhibiting signs of possessing culture. They may not take in the opera or sip fine wines, but the verdict is in: apes are cultured. Fifty years of research on the apes has shown they use tools, communicate, and sometimes shake their hands just because it’s cool.

Anthropologist, Edward Tylor defines culture as “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society” (McGrew, 1998). Other anthropological definitions refer to specific human nature of a culture centered on language, symbols, teaching and imitation (Humle and Newton-Fisher, 2013). Nonhuman primates are cultured and is passed from parent to offspring and is enforced throughout their lives. Various primates initially do the same thing, but carry out these tasks different per what they practice which would be a part of their culture. This research paper will explore specific evidence of culture in nonhuman primates and how it is transmitted.

     The cultural transmission of a communication system through learning is a fundamental attribute of language. Trained chimpanzee’s Washoe and Lucy have tried to teach Ameslan to other animals, including their own offspring. Washoe has taught gestures to other chimps at the institute where she is, including her son, Sequoia, who died when he was very young. There has been other cases of cultural transmission from chimp to chimp.

Primates are one of the most interesting mammals on earth, not only because of their complex social structures, but because they hold so many similar characteristics to humans. Primates are often cited as our closest living relatives and on two separate occasions I observed four separate species of primates at the San Diego Zoo that can justify their use of their physical characteristics and behaviors that may be similar as well as different to the other primates and ours.

The study of primates has been a common field of study for a long time. The studies are carried out for different reasons but the common reason is trying to understand human beings better. Studies have revealed that the behavior of primates is similar to that of human beings on different aspects. Human beings and primates have a history of being related based on the evolution stories. The earliest human beings are believed to have been apes and evolved from there.

There is some great evidence for the argument that primates have their own culture, so it is no wonder that it is getting harder for people to argue that they do not. There are plenty of pictures of primates hugging each other, laughing, and even making tools. The more I read about primates the more I see how similar they are to humans. Chimps use grooming as a way of social reconciliation, as well as helping each other out. Humans were also thought to be one of the only species to engage in sexual activity without the sole cause being conception. Primates have been observed engaging in sexual acts that tend to strengthen social bonds and defuse conflict. Scientists have also taught primates how to use sign language as a means of communication.

However, chimpanzees do have a few similar aspects of culture that are similar to those found in humans. First, chimpanzees are capable of using tools such as small rocks to break open hard nuts and sticks to poke into termite mounds. The main purpose of chimpanzees and bonobos in using tools is towards finding food. They do not use tools to build shelter, fend off predators, or for art displays. One very specific use of sticks as tools by chimpanzees is termed “ant-dipping” (Laland et al. 2013).

Chimpanzees (Figure 1) are the closest living relatives to us, and they share 99 percent of our DNA (1). Chimpanzees have distinct group territoriality. Male chimpanzees “patrol” near the boundary between the two ranges, at that time they move very carefully and quietly, and they can cease to listen and observe the range of their neighbors. Patrolling individuals are likely to face cruel and violent

Despite having different jaw shapes, their tooth types share the same function, from grinding and tearing to chewing and crushing (Larsen, 2008). Primates have also gone through multiple evolutionary changes in their dentition, reflecting on the types of foods they have eaten. Premolars and molars of primates, which were often used for grinding or crushing their food, have significantly changed and influenced the functions of their teeth (Larsen, 2008). Incisors and canines were often used to pierce and rip through food, such as leaves. This helps indicate different types of food preferences and feeding specialization in primates since they have heterodont dentition, meaning that they have more than one type of tooth (Swindler, 2002). Although the diets within the population of primates have changed significantly, teeth development has not differed (Steinberg, 2003). The differences between non-human primates are quite subtle and their characteristics are relatable to humans when it comes to primate

Chimpanzees however, have a symmetrical bone pattern because when they grab objects such as branches, the forces align evenly across the thumb (Gibbons, 2015). Since chimpanzees do not use the precision grip, they cannot use technology to the same extent as humans. Also, this lack of mobility in their hands affects their strength as well (Balter,

Within this essay, we will study more in depth the behavioral as well as physical traits of two primates at a zoo from their interaction with their peers to their place in the group. This observation would enable us to further understand the possible existing correlation between humans and primates. First, I studied a female chimpanzee with her baby, and then, a dominant male gorilla, in San Francisco Zoo at about noon, on May 23, 2015, for an hour each. Even though they share some similarities such as having a large brain, living for a long time, and being bored in their enclosure, they are still different; when gorillas are the largest, chimpanzees are the smartest. In fact, chimps use tools to catch food, they would not be able to reach

The rarity of human uniqueness no longer exists in the thoughts of scientists believing that human ability skills lie within the construction and use of tools. As declared by Goodall in which chimpanzees used straight sticks after removing the leaves and branches to collect termites or ants for consumption. (Goodall, 1986) Other species both primate and non-primate demonstrate successful abilities., which include a sense of self as well as the theory of mind, by which other species recognize that other individuals contain different information than themselves. Different species also have the ability to communicate symbolically to one another through the sounds of vocalization. (Sapolsky R. M., 2006)


Humans and non-human primates have many behaviors and characteristics in common. Apes and chimpanzees have been studies and closely watched for many years. Scientist and researchers and found many similarities between the apes and chimpanzees with humans. All three are hard working and work with tools. They also make these tools. Another similarity is the fact that they are very social with others of their breed. This is also true about other primates other than apes and chimpanzees, like lemurs, lorises, pottos, and tarsiers. Apes and chimpanzees are able to learn sign language and elementary math skills. All primates have nails instead of claws on their fingers and toes. Both non-human primates and humans all have opposable thumbs. They use these thumbs to be able to pick up things better and they are thumbs that are able to move and touch other parts of the same hand. Non-human primates, including humans, learn by watching their mothers and other family members. For example, chimpanzees learn to make stick tools to stick into holes to get termites to eat. They do this because the mothers never teach them

The use of tools comes to practice everyday as chimpanzees collect food from the jungle. Goodall describes how chimpanzees in Tanzania’s Gombe National Park use straw and blades of grass poke holes to hunt for termites by “squatting beside the termite nest, pushing and withdrawing the long grass stem through a hole”. Moreover, during Gooddal’s research, she observed chimpanzees modifying tools, such as small leafy twigs, thus showing the beginnings of tool making. Chimpanzees in West Africa also use tools to get honey from underground bees’ nests. Recently, scientists found out that chimpanzees living in West Savannah use deadly spears from sticks and hand crafted tools to hunt for small animals.

They break a twig off a tree and strip all the leaves off and then twist the twig so it’s like a corkscrew. The twig is then fed in to the hole in the log and the termites will attach themselves to the twig. The chimpanzees now have their meal, they will use the twig over unless it is ruined and then they will make a new one. This shows their abilities to make tools and show their intelligence to design things from natural objects, and modifying them.