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- Engineering skills in the manufacture of tools by wild chimpanzeesPublication . Pascual-Garrido, Alejandra; Carvalho, Susana; Mjungu, Deus; Schulz-Kornas, Ellen; Casteren, Adam vanPhysical evidence of early hominin perishable tools is scarce. However, it is reasonable to assume the mechanical constraints surrounding tool use and manufacture have remained somewhat constant. Using a functional framework to understand the technical capabilities of extant hominoid tool users presents a novel approach to predict the perishable tool-using capabilities of our earliest relatives. We investigated the structural and mechanical properties of plant materials used by wild chimpanzees to make termite fishing probes. Materials sourced from plant species extensively used by chimpanzees produced implements of greater flexibility than those constructed from plants never selected by chimpanzees. This pattern was also reflected in chimpanzee tool species preferences, with preferred plant species producing highly flexible implements. Implement flexibility aligns with functional predictions and likely facilitates termite attachment. Our findings provide insights into the technical skills associated with perishable artefact-making and raise questions about how this knowledge is learnt and culturally transmitted.
- Natural history is more relevant than ever for primate ecology and conservationPublication . Carvalho, Susana; Bobe, René; Beardmore-Herd, Megan; d´Oliveira Coelho, João; Pascual-Garrido, Alejandra; Kingdon, JonathanIn the tradition of pioneers such as Alexander von Humboldt (1807); Darwin (1839) and Wallace (1869), natural history developed as an integrative framework to understanding processes, relationships, variation, contingency, and patterns in the natural world. These pioneers established biogeography as a foundational natural science. Grounded in prolonged, direct observations, this approach gave rise to field primatology, catalysed by the transformative work of figures like Imanishi (1941); Goodall (1986); Nishida (2011); Washburn (1961) and Strum (2025). Field primatology is thus a direct descendant of classic natural history approaches. Far from being superseded by analytical advances, natural history remains the foundation that gives depth and meaning to primatology, generating the core hypotheses and questions that fuel contemporary evolutionary inquiry (Kingdon 2023).