Perry Susan E, Barrett Brendan J, Godoy Irene
Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1553;
Behavior, Evolution and Culture Program, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1553.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 Jul 25;114(30):7806-7813. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1620739114. Epub 2017 Jul 24.
An important extension to our understanding of evolutionary processes has been the discovery of the roles that individual and social learning play in creating recurring phenotypes on which selection can act. Cultural change occurs chiefly through invention of new behavioral variants combined with social transmission of the novel behaviors to new practitioners. Therefore, understanding what makes some individuals more likely to innovate and/or transmit new behaviors is critical for creating realistic models of culture change. The difficulty in identifying what behaviors qualify as new in wild animal populations has inhibited researchers from understanding the characteristics of behavioral innovations and innovators. Here, we present the findings of a long-term, systematic study of innovation (10 y, 10 groups, and 234 individuals) in wild capuchin monkeys () in Lomas Barbudal, Costa Rica. Our methodology explicitly seeks novel behaviors, requiring their absence during the first 5 y of the study to qualify as novel in the second 5 y of the study. Only about 20% of 187 innovations identified were retained in innovators' individual behavioral repertoires, and 22% were subsequently seen in other group members. Older, more social monkeys were more likely to invent new forms of social interaction, whereas younger monkeys were more likely to innovate in other behavioral domains (foraging, investigative, and self-directed behaviors). Sex and rank had little effect on innovative tendencies. Relative to apes, capuchins devote more of their innovations repertoire to investigative behaviors and social bonding behaviors and less to foraging and comfort behaviors.
对进化过程理解的一个重要扩展是发现了个体学习和社会学习在创造可供选择作用的反复出现的表型方面所起的作用。文化变迁主要通过新行为变体的发明以及将新行为向新从业者的社会传播而发生。因此，理解哪些个体更有可能创新和/或传播新行为对于创建现实的文化变迁模型至关重要。在野生动物种群中识别哪些行为属于新行为的困难阻碍了研究人员了解行为创新和创新者的特征。在此，我们展示了对哥斯达黎加洛马斯·巴尔布达尔野生卷尾猴（）进行的一项关于创新的长期、系统研究（10年、10个群体和234只个体）的结果。我们的方法明确寻找新行为，要求在研究的前5年中不存在这些行为，才能在研究的后5年中被认定为新行为。在确定的187项创新中，只有约20%保留在创新者个人的行为库中，22%随后在其他群体成员中出现。年龄较大、社交性更强的猴子更有可能发明新的社会互动形式，而年轻猴子更有可能在其他行为领域（觅食、探究和自我导向行为）进行创新。性别和等级对创新倾向影响不大。相对于猿类，卷尾猴将更多的创新行为用于探究行为和社会联结行为，而用于觅食和舒适行为的较少。
