Captive chimpanzees have begun to hang grass from their ears and buttocks in a rare, trendy “trend,” new research finds.
Chimpanzees (pantrogloids) attach grass blades to their ears, ears, or rectum, and then let them droop there for a while, researchers reported. The behavior does not appear to have no physical or medical purpose, but it spreads socially from chimpanzees to chimpanzees.
Researchers first reported grass ear behavior in 2014. At the time, only a group of chimpanzees living in the Chimhunsi wildlife orphanage in Zambia showed their behavior. Now, another sanctuary group has independently adopted action and introduced a bold new style. The researchers described new behavior in a study published in the Journal Behavior, published on July 4th.
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The two groups do not come into contact with each other, but share the same human keeper. Researchers suspect that the ear section of behavior originally spreads into groups and comes from chimpanzees copying human caregivers before they change slightly.
“These caretakers said they studied Edwin van Lewen, the chief author, assistant professor of animal behavior and cognition at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, “these caretakers reported having put matchsticks on their ears on grass blades and ears.” “The caretakers of the other groups said they didn’t do this. One group of chimpanzees came up with a grass blade to another location.”
Related: Watch boosing chimpanzees share alcoholic fruits. How did social drinking begin?
Social animals often copy their actions from one another. These behaviors are usually focused on finding food and other critical survival skills. However, researchers have sometimes documented temporary epidemics spreading through the population without obvious benefits. Several orcas (orcinus orcas) in the northwest Pacific are famous for this and have developed the strange habit of swimming with dead salmon on their heads.
The author of the new study first noticed the behavior of the grass ears of a chimpanzee in a woman named Julie in 2010. Julie repeatedly painted grass blades on her ears and had them hang. The researchers later recorded seven other members of her group. Julie passed away in 2013, but some of the group continued to act, suggesting that it has become a cultural tradition. The second group began running the action in 2023.
To readjust this trend, researchers observed all of the sanctuary chimpanzees for 12 months between 2023 and 2024. Two chimpjes from Julie’s group were still grassing their ears. One of them was Julie’s son. Meanwhile, in other groups a man named Juma was identified as an innovator with the potential variations of a bold new grass bat.
Researchers suspect that prisoners played a role in the trend. Wild chimpanzees, who have not been observed to engage in such seemingly frivolous behavior, must find food and fill their days, and usually deal with more challenges than prisoner chimpanzees who deliver meals.
“In captivity, they have more free time than in the wild,” Van Lewen said. They don’t have to be vigilant or spend a lot of time searching for food. ”
The ju umpire is still out about what chimpanzees are breaking out of their orifice accessories on the lawn. However, researchers speculated that this type of social learning would help strengthen social identity and social cohesion.
“It could also serve social purposes,” Van Lewen said. “By copying someone else’s behavior, you show that you notice the individual and perhaps even show it as that individual. So, just like humans, it may help strengthen social bonds and create a sense of belonging within the group.”
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