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Related Experiment Videos

Apes save tools for future use.

Nicholas J Mulcahy1, Josep Call

  • 1Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany.

Science (New York, N.Y.)
|May 20, 2006
PubMed
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Great apes like bonobos and orangutans demonstrate future planning by saving tools for later use, suggesting this cognitive skill predates human evolution. This planning ability in great apes evolved before 14 million years ago.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Science
  • Primatology
  • Evolutionary Psychology

Background:

  • Future planning is a complex cognitive ability, crucial for survival and adaptation.
  • The evolutionary origins of future planning, particularly in non-human primates, remain a subject of debate.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the capacity for future planning in great apes (bonobos and orangutans).
  • To determine if precursor skills for future planning existed before the divergence of extant great ape species.

Main Methods:

  • Bonobos and orangutans were tested on their ability to select, transport, and save appropriate tools for later use.
  • Experiments involved delays of 1 hour and 14 hours between tool collection and usage.
  • A control experiment assessed if tool selection was dependent on the immediate presence of the apparatus.

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Main Results:

  • Both bonobos and orangutans successfully selected, transported, and saved tools for future use at rates significantly above baseline.
  • The planning behavior was observed across different delay intervals, including a 14-hour delay.
  • The ability to plan was not contingent on the immediate visibility of the task apparatus.

Conclusions:

  • Great apes possess sophisticated future planning capabilities, challenging the notion that this is a uniquely human trait.
  • The findings indicate that the cognitive precursors for future planning evolved in the common ancestor of great apes over 14 million years ago.