Chimpanzee Skill Development Continues into Adulthood, Essential for Tool-Use Evolution

Tool use is a key factor in the evolution of human cognition and culture, according to the authors of the study.This study, led by researchers from the Institute of Cognitive Sciences in France, investigated if chimpanzees shared this trait by examining how the apes developed tool techniques as they aged.At the Ta National Park, in the Ivory Coast of Africa, the team observed 70 wild chimpanzees of various ages using sticks to retrieve food through video recordings collected over several years.

Researchers have observed that chimpanzees continued to learn and mature their skills of using tools well into adulthood. The ability to continue learning over a prolonged period could be an essential factor in the evolution of complex skills to use tools, the researchers said.

It has been hypothesised that the ability of humans to learn throughout their lives lends them the ''extraordinary'' flexibility with which they use tools. Tool use is a key factor in the evolution of human cognition and culture, according to the authors of the study.

This study, led by researchers from the Institute of Cognitive Sciences in France, investigated if chimpanzees shared this trait by examining how the apes developed tool techniques as they aged.

At the Taï National Park, in the Ivory Coast of Africa, the team observed 70 wild chimpanzees of various ages using sticks to retrieve food through video recordings collected over several years. Their findings have been published in the journal PLoS Biology.

As the apes aged, they were seen to become more skilled at employing suitable finger grips to handle sticks. While these motor skills became fully functional by the time the animals turned six, they continued to hone their techniques well into adulthood.

However, certain advanced skills, such as using sticks to extract insects from hard-to-reach places or adjusting grip to suit different tasks, weren't fully developed until age 15, the researchers noted.

They said this suggested that these skills were not only a matter of physical development, but also of learning capacities for new technological skills continuing into adulthood.

Retaining the ability to learn even as adults thus seems to be a beneficial attribute for tool-using species, a key insight into the evolution of chimpanzees as well as humans, said the researchers.

Further study would, however, be needed to understand the details of chimps' learning process, such as the role of reasoning and memory, or the relative importance of experience compared to instruction from peers, the authors said.

''In wild chimpanzees, the intricacies of tool use learning continue into adulthood. This pattern supports ideas that large brains across hominids (primates) allow continued learning through the first two decades of life,'' the authors wrote.

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