Social transmission, tradition and culture in primates : from the epiphenomenon to the phenomenon

Abstract

The consequences and meaning of the propagation of socially acquired patterns in populations of non-human primates are reviewed. Acquired patterns may represent temporary fashions, they may also be transmitted from one generation to the next and give rise to traditions. They mainly concern subsistence activities, body care or social communication but they sometimes have no direct utility. A fair degree of stereotypy may occur in propagated patterns both from social and ecological shaping. However, in some cases, forms appear arbitrary with regard to environmental constraints. The accumulation of dozens of traditions is known in chimpanzees only. Lack of faithful copying and failure to internalize traditions likely limit the stabilization and accumulation of refinements in nonhuman primates. It is concluded that these traditions are not adaptations per se but represent side-effects of individual learning abilities at the population level. However, such epiphenomena might have been instrumental in the emergence of the cultural phenomenon in early hominids.