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Bees and chimpanzees learn from others what they cannot learn alone

It has been argued that human culture rests on a unique ability to learn from others more than we could possibly learn alone in a lifetime. Two studies show that we share this ability with bumblebees and chimpanzees.
  1. Alex Thornton

    1. Alex Thornton is at the Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn TR10 9FE, UK.

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You and I are both, biologically speaking, African apes, but I am writing this on a laptop in Cornwall, and you might be reading it in Colombo, Caracas or Canberra. This reflects one of the most remarkable attributes of the human species — the progressive improvement of skills and technologies as innovations spread and are built on, a phenomenon called cumulative culture. Studies by Bridges et al.1 in Nature and van Leeuwen et al.2 in Nature Human Behaviour shed light on the capacity of other animals to demonstrate the type of skill that might be needed to achieve cumulative culture.

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Nature 627, 491-492 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00427-8

References

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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