Yamakoshi Gen, Myowa-Yamakoshi Masako
Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies, Kyoto University, 46 Yoshida-Shimoadachicho, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
Primates. 2004 Jan;45(1):25-32. doi: 10.1007/s10329-003-0056-6. Epub 2003 Oct 18.
Ant-dipping behavior is often cited as a clear example of chimpanzee culture, since different populations have apparently different dipping techniques (the one-handed method used by chimpanzees in Bossou, Guinea and Taï, Côte d'Ivoire, and the two-handed method used in Gombe, Tanzania). Here we report a new observation of ant-dipping behavior from Bossou using the two-handed method, in addition to the first detailed description of the one-handed method. Although the main dipping pattern was the one-handed method in Bossou, one adult male was observed dipping for ants using the two-handed method, while other chimpanzees employed the conventional one-handed method in the same episode. The two-handed method was also sporadically observed in a juvenile and in adolescents, who were still immature in dipping techniques and hence prone to suffer from ant attacks. Cross-population comparisons of dipping techniques suggest that there are two sub-types of the one-handed method, and the Bossou one-handed technique may be substantially different from that of Taï. In terms of overall behavioral repertoire in ant dipping, the Bossou pattern appears more similar to that of Gombe than Taï. This may be explained by the difference in target ant species.
蘸蚁行为常被视为黑猩猩文化的一个明显例子，因为不同群体的蘸蚁技巧明显不同（几内亚博苏和科特迪瓦伊塔伊的黑猩猩使用单手方法，坦桑尼亚贡贝的黑猩猩使用双手方法）。在此，我们报告了博苏地区用双手方法蘸蚁行为的新观察结果，以及对单手方法的首次详细描述。尽管博苏地区主要的蘸蚁模式是单手方法，但观察到一只成年雄性黑猩猩用双手方法蘸蚁，而在同一时段其他黑猩猩采用传统的单手方法。在一只幼年黑猩猩和几只未成年黑猩猩中也偶尔观察到双手方法，它们在蘸蚁技巧上仍不成熟，因此容易受到蚂蚁攻击。对蘸蚁技巧的跨群体比较表明，单手方法有两种亚型，博苏的单手技巧可能与塔伊的有很大不同。就蘸蚁的整体行为表现而言，博苏的模式与贡贝的比与塔伊的更相似。这可能是由目标蚂蚁种类的差异所解释的。
