Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Short-distance Transport of Resources

Short-distance Transport of Resources

Short-distance transport refers to transport that occurs over a distance of just 2-3 cells, crossing the plasma membrane in the process. Small uncharged molecules, such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water, can diffuse across the plasma membrane on their own. In contrast, ions and larger molecules require the assistance of transport proteins due to their charge or size. Transport across membranes also occurs within individual cells, playing a variety of essential roles for the plant as a whole.

Habitat Fragmentation

Habitat Fragmentation

Habitat fragmentation describes the division of a more extensive, continuous habitat into smaller, discontinuous areas. Human activities such as land conversion, as well as slower geological processes leading to changes in the physical environment, are the two leading causes of habitat fragmentation. The fragmentation process typically follows the same steps: perforation, dissection, fragmentation, shrinkage, and attrition.

Quarrying of Stone

Quarrying of Stone

Quarrying is the process of extracting stone from a quarry, where specialized techniques are employed to remove large blocks of stone safely and efficiently. This process can involve controlled explosions or more precision-oriented methods such as cutting and drilling.
One common method involves using a diamond belt saw to cut large blocks from the quarry face. These blocks can be about 50 feet long and 12 feet high. After the initial vertical cut, drilling is performed at the base of the...

The Fossil Record

The Fossil Record

The fossil record documents only a small fraction of all organisms that have ever inhabited Earth. Fossilization is a rare process, and most organisms never become fossils. Moreover, the fossil record only exhibits fossils that have been discovered. Nevertheless, sedimentary rock fossils of long-lived, abundant, hard-bodied organisms dominate the fossil record. These fossils offer valuable information, such as an organism's physical form, behavior, and age. Studying the fossil record helps...

Speciation Rates

Speciation Rates

Synteny and Evolution

Synteny and Evolution

John H. Renwick first coined the term “synteny” in 1971, which refers to the genes present on the same chromosomes, even if they are not genetically linked. The species with common ancestry tend to show conserved syntenic regions. Therefore, the concept of synteny is nowadays used to describe the evolutionary relationship between species.
Around 80 million years ago, the human and mice lineages diverged from the common ancestor. During the course of evolution, the ancestral...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Accumulation of antimicrobial resistance genes in wild chimpanzees.

The ISME journal·2026

Same author

Addendum: Transmission of MPXV from fire-footed rope squirrels to sooty mangabeys.

Nature·2026

Same author

Disparate social structures are underpinned by distinct social rules across a primate radiation.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026

Same author

EVApeCognition: An 18-Year Dataset of Great Ape Cognition.

Scientific data·2026

Same author

Identifying practical pathways from animal culture theory to conservation practice.

Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society·2026

Same author

Call combination order and iterations may shift meaning in sooty mangabey vocal sequences.

BMC biology·2026

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 9, 2026

Behavioral Assessment of Manual Dexterity in Non-Human Primates

Behavioral Assessment of Manual Dexterity in Non-Human Primates

Published on: November 11, 2011

Distance-decay effect in stone tool transport by wild chimpanzees.

Lydia V Luncz¹, Tomos Proffitt², Lars Kulik^3,4

¹Primate Archaeology Research Group, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK lydia.luncz@rlaha.ox.ac.uk.

Proceedings. Biological Sciences

|December 23, 2016

Summary

Chimpanzee stone tool use creates large-scale landscape patterns over time, even without direct long-distance transport. This study reveals a distance-decay effect in hammerstone distribution, offering insights into early hominin tool use and landscape formation.

Keywords:

chimpanzees distance-decay effect primate archaeology stone tools transport

More Related Videos

Reverse Dissection and DiceCT Reveal Otherwise Hidden Data in the Evolution of the Primate Face

Reverse Dissection and DiceCT Reveal Otherwise Hidden Data in the Evolution of the Primate Face

Published on: January 7, 2019

Sampling and Pretreatment of Tooth Enamel Carbonate for Stable Carbon and Oxygen Isotope Analysis

Sampling and Pretreatment of Tooth Enamel Carbonate for Stable Carbon and Oxygen Isotope Analysis

Published on: August 15, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Mar 9, 2026

Behavioral Assessment of Manual Dexterity in Non-Human Primates

Behavioral Assessment of Manual Dexterity in Non-Human Primates

Published on: November 11, 2011

Reverse Dissection and DiceCT Reveal Otherwise Hidden Data in the Evolution of the Primate Face

Reverse Dissection and DiceCT Reveal Otherwise Hidden Data in the Evolution of the Primate Face

Published on: January 7, 2019

Sampling and Pretreatment of Tooth Enamel Carbonate for Stable Carbon and Oxygen Isotope Analysis

Sampling and Pretreatment of Tooth Enamel Carbonate for Stable Carbon and Oxygen Isotope Analysis

Published on: August 15, 2018

Area of Science:

Primate behaviour
Archaeology
Landscape evolution

Background:

Stone tool transport leaves lasting evidence in landscapes.
Understanding how short-term, undirected behaviors create large-scale patterns is crucial.
Chimpanzees in Taï National Park are a long-studied model for stone tool use.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the emergence of large-scale stone distribution patterns from short-term transport behaviors.
To test for a distance-decay effect in chimpanzee hammerstone distribution.
To explore the relevance of chimpanzee tool transport for understanding hominin landscape formation.

Main Methods:

Analysis of hammerstones left at chimpanzee Panda nut-cracking sites.
Testing for a distance-decay effect (material weight decreasing with distance from source).
Comparison of modern chimpanzee patterns with millennia-old tool sites (Noulo site).

Main Results:

A significant distance-decay effect was observed for hammerstones up to 2 km from raw material sources.
This pattern emerged despite chimpanzee tool transport not appearing to be deliberately directed away from sources.
Ancient tools from the Noulo site exhibited a similar distance-decay pattern.

Conclusions:

Chimpanzee stone tool transport demonstrates complex short-term planning leading to long-term landscape patterns.
The Taï chimpanzee model provides a relevant analogy for understanding hominin landscape formation, particularly where discrete material sources and distance-decay effects are present.
Further research into other stone-tool-using primates, including hominins, is warranted to explore similar landscape-forming processes.