The Great Honeyeater is an ordinary bird of southern Africa, were it not for the animal’s very distinctive behavior. The honey and beeswax-loving bird seeks out bee nests within its territory. Once it finds a nest, it emits a distinctive whistle. Hunters and honey gatherers, such as the Hadza and Boran, have learned to recognize this sound and follow the honey hunter’s signals to the nest, then smoke it out. Once the job is done, the honey hunter feeds on the remains of the broken nest. Conversely, hunters have a whistle that lets the honey hunter know they are nearby, a whistle that serves as a signal for the bird to locate the bee nest.
fishing together
Hunting together, sharing food, communicating… these are examples of shared culture, a process of cultural exchange between species. Such interactive behavior occurs not only between humans and other species, but also between animal species themselves, in a way that leads to the emergence of shared behavioral spartons that are passed down through generations. To better understand this shared behavior, a new conceptual framework is needed, says Professor Michael Hoffman, a primatologist who specializes in the study of self-medication in apes. “Such cultural interactions are often poorly documented. Yet they do occur, and they have a profound impact on how animals adapt to their environment. Moreover, cultural exchange also affects the evolution of species.”
The remarkable relationship between honey hunters and local fishermen is a classic example of cultural exchange, but it is not unique. Off the coast of Brazil, near the city of Laguna, a similar interaction takes place between local fishermen and the tursiops, a subspecies of dolphin. Together they hunt for mullet, a fish that moves in schools. The fishermen wait for signals from the dolphins to cast their nets. They then feed on the school of fish before the fishermen bring in their catch.
Cultural exchange doesn’t just happen between humans and other animal species. One example is the relationship between slender monkeys and jaguar deer in certain parts of India, says Hoffman. “At certain times of the year, there is little vegetation for the deer to feed on, and they congregate near the monkeys, who toss fruit and leaves from the trees. The monkeys, in turn, have learned to understand the deer’s signals that warn them when tigers are near.”
Evolutionary influence
Hoffman knows about cultural exchange through his field of study. “In the 40 years I have been studying primates here in Japan, we have seen how stone handling has spread. This playful behavior began in young monkeys. Later, it spread throughout the population. But here at the research institute, different species live in close proximity to each other, which is why stone handling has also become common in other groups, such as rhesus monkeys.
In order to speak of culture, and therefore also shared culture, the behavior must persist across generations. This is clearly the case with the examples Hoffman cites. But does shared cultural behavior also have an evolutionary effect? Hoffman thinks so, although this requires further research. “Evolution is a long-term process. But in our colony we see that individuals who handle stones from an early age live much longer than was previously the case. We know that fine motor movements in humans prevent cognitive decline in old age. This may also be the case with our monkeys. So shared cultural behavior has a biological effect.”
