Animal culture

This article is about learning in non-human animals. For the place of animals in human culture, see Animals in culture.

Animal culture can be defined as the ability of non-human animals to learn and transmit behaviors through processes of social or cultural learning.[1][2][3][4] Culture is increasingly seen as a process, involving the social transmittance of behavior among peers and between generations. It can involve the transmission of novel behaviors[5] or regional variations that are independent of genetic or ecological factors.[6]

The existence of culture in non-humans has been a contentious subject, sometimes forcing researchers to rethink "what it is to be human".[6] The notion of culture in other animals dates back to Aristotle in classical antiquity, and more recently to Charles Darwin, but the association of other animals' actions with the actual word 'culture' originated with Japanese primatologists' discoveries of socially-transmitted food behaviours in the 1940s.[7] Evidence for animal culture is often based on studies of feeding behaviors,[8] vocalizations,[4] predator avoidance,[9] mate selection,[10] and migratory routes.[11]

An important area of study for animal culture is vocal learning, the ability to make new sounds through imitation.[4] Most species cannot learn to imitate sounds. Some can learn how to use innate vocalizations in new ways. Only a few species can learn new calls.[3] The transmission of vocal repertoires, including some types of bird vocalization, can be viewed as social processes involving cultural transmission.[4] Some evidence suggests that the ability to engage in vocal learning depends on the development of specialized brain circuitry, detected in humans, dolphins, bats and some birds. The lack of common ancestors suggests that the basis for vocal learning has evolved independently through evolutionary convergence.[3]

Animal culture can be an important consideration in conservation management. As of 2020, culture and sociality were included in the aspects of the management framework of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).[9][12][13]

  1. ^ Whiten, Andrew (2 April 2021). "The burgeoning reach of animal culture". Science. 372 (6537). doi:10.1126/science.abe6514. PMID 33795431. S2CID 232484226. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  2. ^ Whiten, Andrew (2 November 2019). "Cultural Evolution in Animals". Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. 50 (1): 27–48. doi:10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110218-025040. ISSN 1543-592X. S2CID 196647672.
  3. ^ a b c Mason, Betsy (15 February 2022). "Do birds have language? It depends on how you define it". Knowable Magazine. Annual Reviews. doi:10.1146/knowable-021522-1. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference Hyland Bruno was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ De Waal, Frans (2001). The Ape and the Sushi Master: Cultural Reflections by a Primatologist. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-04175-6.
  6. ^ a b Sapolsky, Robert M. (2006). "Social Cultures among Nonhuman Primates". Current Anthropology. 47 (4): 641–656. doi:10.1086/504162. ISSN 0011-3204. JSTOR 10.1086/504162. S2CID 35152891.
  7. ^ Laland, Kevin N.; Galef, Bennett G., eds. (2009). The Question of Animal Culture. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-03126-5.
  8. ^ Gruber, Thibaud; Luncz, Lydia; Mörchen, Julia; Schuppli, Caroline; Kendal, Rachel L.; Hockings, Kimberley (18 June 2019). "Cultural change in animals: a flexible behavioural adaptation to human disturbance". Palgrave Communications. 5 (1): 1–9. doi:10.1057/s41599-019-0271-4. hdl:10871/39976. ISSN 2055-1045. S2CID 190642523.
  9. ^ a b Brakes, Philippa; Carroll, Emma L.; Dall, Sasha R. X.; Keith, Sally A.; McGregor, Peter K.; Mesnick, Sarah L.; Noad, Michael J.; Rendell, Luke; Robbins, Martha M.; Rutz, Christian; Thornton, Alex; Whiten, Andrew; Whiting, Martin J.; Aplin, Lucy M.; Bearhop, Stuart; Ciucci, Paolo; Fishlock, Vicki; Ford, John K. B.; Notarbartolo di Sciara, Giuseppe; Simmonds, Mark P.; Spina, Fernando; Wade, Paul R.; Whitehead, Hal; Williams, James; Garland, Ellen C. (28 April 2021). "A deepening understanding of animal culture suggests lessons for conservation". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 288 (1949): 20202718. doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.2718. PMC 8059593. PMID 33878919.
  10. ^ Whitehead, Hal; Laland, Kevin N.; Rendell, Luke; Thorogood, Rose; Whiten, Andrew (3 June 2019). "The reach of gene–culture coevolution in animals". Nature Communications. 10 (1): 2405. Bibcode:2019NatCo..10.2405W. doi:10.1038/s41467-019-10293-y. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 6546714. PMID 31160560.
  11. ^ Carroll, E. L.; Baker, C. S.; Watson, M.; Alderman, R.; Bannister, J.; Gaggiotti, O. E.; Gröcke, D. R.; Patenaude, N.; Harcourt, R. (9 November 2015). "Cultural traditions across a migratory network shape the genetic structure of southern right whales around Australia and New Zealand". Scientific Reports. 5 (1): 16182. Bibcode:2015NatSR...516182C. doi:10.1038/srep16182. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 4637828. PMID 26548756.
  12. ^ Brakes, Philippa; Dall, Sasha R. X.; Aplin, Lucy M.; Bearhop, Stuart; Carroll, Emma L.; Ciucci, Paolo; Fishlock, Vicki; Ford, John K. B.; Garland, Ellen C.; Keith, Sally A.; McGregor, Peter K.; Mesnick, Sarah L.; Noad, Michael J.; Sciara, Giuseppe Notarbartolo di; Robbins, Martha M.; Simmonds, Mark P.; Spina, Fernando; Thornton, Alex; Wade, Paul R.; Whiting, Martin J.; Williams, James; Rendell, Luke; Whitehead, Hal; Whiten, Andrew; Rutz, Christian (8 March 2019). "Animal cultures matter for conservation". Science. 363 (6431): 1032–1034. Bibcode:2019Sci...363.1032B. doi:10.1126/science.aaw3557. hdl:10023/17427. PMID 30808816. S2CID 72336117.
  13. ^ "Animal Culture Linked to Conservation for the First Time | CMS". Convention on Migratory Species. Retrieved 24 February 2022.