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Use of leaves as cushions to sit on wet ground by wild chimpanzees
Author(s) -
Hirata Satoshi,
Myowa Masako,
Matsuzawa Tetsuro
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
american journal of primatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.988
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1098-2345
pISSN - 0275-2565
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1098-2345(1998)44:3<215::aid-ajp4>3.0.co;2-z
Subject(s) - troglodytes , subsistence agriculture , cushion , biology , ecology , geography , zoology , agriculture , archaeology
A new type of tool use, leaf cushion, by wild chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes verus ) at Bossou, Guinea, was found. We report two cases: one is indirect evidence; the other is direct observation of a chimpanzee who used the tool. Both cases indicate that chimpanzees used a set of leaves as a cushion while sitting on wet ground. Chimpanzees at Bossou show various kinds of tool use, some of which are unique to the community. Most of these behavioral patterns are subsistence tool use for obtaining food, as at other study sites. The use of leaves as a cushion adds to the few instances of nonsubsistence, elementary technology seen used by wild chimpanzees. Am. J. Primatol. 44:215–220, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.