This page
contains a summary of the manuscript,
contact information and electronic
downloads (images, video) related to the
research article "Chimpanzees
Prey on Army Ants with Specialized Tool
Set"
published in the American Journal of
Primatology.
Summary of the Manuscript
The
chimpanzee culture debate has received a great deal of attention
over the past ten years. New cultural variants have been
proposed, while others have been challenged. Ant dipping is one
of the most commonly cited examples of a behavior which differs
between chimpanzee populations. It was claimed that chimpanzees
in East Africa show a particular gathering technique, whereas
apes in West Africa exhibit another variant of the behavior.
More recently, detailed studies of these techniques across sites
have shown that most of the variation in tool use to prey upon
army ants could be explained by the characteristics of the
targeted ant species. However, remote video cameras stationed in
the Republic of Congo are revealing that chimpanzees in the
Goualougo Triangle have developed a more sophisticated way to
gather army ants. In the American Journal of Primatology,
scientists report their observations of chimpanzees preying upon
ants with a specialized tool set consisting of a wooden
perforating tool to open the ant nest and another flexible tool
to gather insects. Although these chimpanzees are targeting the
same ants harvested in other regions, there are no other reports
of such regular or widespread use of more than one type of tool
to prey upon Dorylus ants. It has only recently been discovered
that these particular chimpanzees use several different types of
tool sets which could be their cultural signature of sorts.
There is an urgency to learn about these behaviors as the
existence of the apes in the Congo Basin is threatened by
logging, hunting, and disease.
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Images
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Click on any images for full-size version, or click
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images.
Image 1.
An
adult male chimpanzee standing bipedally while using a
tool to dip for ants in the Goualougo Triangle.
Photo Credit:
Morgan/Sanz, Goualougo Triangle Ape Project,
Nouabale-Ndoki National Park, Republic of Congo.
Image 2.
Adult male chimpanzee holding an ant nest perforating
tool in his right hand and an ant dipping probe in his
mouth.
Photo Credit:
Morgan/Sanz, Goualougo Triangle Ape Project,
Nouabale-Ndoki National Park, Republic of Congo.
Image 3.
Adult male chimpanzee in the Goualougo Triangle,
Republic of Congo.
Photo Credit:
Sanz/Morgan, Goualougo Triangle Ape Project,
Nouabale-Ndoki National Park, Republic of Congo.
Image 4.
Tool
set used by chimpanzees to prey upon army ants in the
Goualougo Triangle, Republic of Congo. The top two tools
are herbaceous dipping probes. The bottom tool is a
perforating tool with the leafy branches intact at one
end. Above the perforating tool is a measuring tape
totaling 20 cm in length.
Photo Credit:
Sanz/Morgan, Goualougo Triangle Ape Project,
Nouabale-Ndoki National Park, Republic of Congo.
Image 5.
Juvenile male chimpanzee in the Goualougo Triangle,
Republic of Congo.
Photo Credit: Sanz/Morgan, Goualougo
Triangle Ape Project, Nouabale-Ndoki National Park,
Republic of Congo.
Image 6.
Subadult male chimpanzee in the Goualougo Triangle,
Republic of Congo.
Photo Credit: Sanz/Morgan, Goualougo
Triangle Ape Project, Nouabale-Ndoki National Park,
Republic of Congo.
Image 7.
Close-up view of a Dorylus ant.
Photo Credit: April Nobile / www.antweb.org.
Image 8.
Army ants standing in formation
at the nest. Photo Credit: Sanz/Morgan, Goualougo
Triangle Ape Project, Nouabale-Ndoki National Park,
Republic of Congo.
Image 9.
Soldier army ant at the nest.
Photo Credit: Sanz/Morgan, Goualougo Triangle Ape
Project, Nouabale-Ndoki National Park, Republic of
Congo.
Video
Any use
of this video without credit or attribution is unauthorized.
Video 1.
Adult male chimpanzee
uses a tool set when visiting an army ant nest. He first uses a
sapling with leafy branches intact on the unused end to
perforate the nest, and then follows with an herbaceous dipping
wand. Video Credit: Goualougo Triangle Ape Project, Nouabale-Ndoki National Park, Republic of Congo.
