Apes have social traditions just like humans

[Judi Lynn]

International Business Times
20 JUN 2017 AT 17:14 ET


June 20, 2017
Elana Glowatz
Posted with permission from International Business Times



Chimpanzees want to fit in with the popular kids, just like humans do — researchers say chimps will change their behavior to match what others are doing.

A study in the journal Current Biology points to a specific type of behavior in these apes called the “grooming handclasp.” It’s exactly what it sounds like: Two animals engaged in the social interaction of grooming will clasp one another’s hands. But the exact form this rare chimp handshake varies among groups, with some gripping each other’s palms and the others gripping wrists depending on what group they were in. Scientists studying the behavior in Zambia said it’s a “group-level cultural tradition in chimpanzees” rather than one passed down from mothers to their young.

Grooming itself is a social behavior that does more than clean the chimps: It is also a bonding experience, a way to relax and an action that defers to the hierarchy of the chimp community. And only some groups of these apes perform the handclasp. The University of St. Andrews explained that because it varies among groups as opposed to chimpanzee families, “this indicates that, like humans, chimpanzees have the capacity and motivation to learn from each other and fine tune their learned behavior such that it matches with the group ‘norm.’ ”

A behavior passed down through a family line does not explain why chimps within one group will clasp hands in one way and chimps in another will clasp in another.

More:
http://www.rawstory.com/2017/06/apes-have-social-traditions-just-like-humans/