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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 7, 2026

Behavioral Assessment of Manual Dexterity in Non-Human Primates

Behavioral Assessment of Manual Dexterity in Non-Human Primates

Published on: November 11, 2011

Chimpanzee autarky.

Sarah F Brosnan¹, Mark F Grady, Susan P Lambeth

¹Department of Anthropology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

|January 31, 2008

Summary

Chimpanzees engage in costly barter, trading lower-value food for higher-value food. However, they avoid trades with small potential gains, suggesting ownership or risk aversion influences their economic decisions.

Area of Science:

Primate Behavior
Comparative Economics
Evolutionary Anthropology

Background:

Barter is fundamental to human wealth and culture, yet its evolutionary origins remain unclear.
Studying barter in non-human species like chimpanzees offers insights into its development.
Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), despite intelligence and social complexity, have not spontaneously developed costly barter.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the conditions under which chimpanzees engage in costly barter.
To understand the decision-making processes underlying trade in a closely related species.
To compare chimpanzee barter behavior with human economic principles.

Main Methods:

Systematic examination of costly barter in chimpanzees with human experimenters.

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Observation of exchanges involving food items of varying perceived value.

Analysis of trade decisions based on potential gains and item desirability.

Main Results:

Chimpanzees do engage in costly barter, preferring higher-value items over lower-value ones.
Trade occurs when the perceived gain is significant.
Chimpanzees refrain from trading when potential gains are small, even if beneficial.

Conclusions:

Chimpanzee barter behavior may be influenced by a lack of ownership norms or high perceived risk of defection.
Significant potential gains are necessary to incentivize trade in chimpanzees.
Understanding chimpanzee barter conditions can illuminate human economic behavior and decision-making.