Chimpanzees are one of humans’ closest living relatives and therefore share similar characteristics and behaviors. Chimpanzees, like some other animal species, use tools. The monkeys can use sticks and twigs to access hard-to-reach but nutrient-rich food. This can be seen in the photo. Chimpanzees are one of the few species that can use such tools flexibly. This means that understanding the plot requires a certain amount of thinking ability.
This is necessary if, for example, the action consists of several steps or the desired goal is not immediately visible and achievable. In the case of this chimpanzee, it is the food hidden deep in a tree that has to be specifically fished out with a stick. According to hypotheses, the perfected ability of humans to use tools flexibly can be traced back to human learning behavior. People have the opportunity to continue learning and improving their skills throughout their entire lives.
Due to their similarity to humans, researchers led by Mathieu Malherbe from the Institute for Cognitive Research in Lyon investigated whether chimpanzees can also learn over the course of their lives. To do this, they analyzed within the framework of the Tai Chimpanzee Project the learning behavior of chimpanzees in Ivory Coast. Over several years, the team observed 70 wild chimpanzees of varying ages using tools to obtain food.
From the age of six, the great apes’ motor skills for handling sticks were fully developed. Nevertheless, the research team observed that the chimpanzees continued to refine these skills into adulthood. It took up to 15 years of age for the chimpanzees to be able to use sticks to reach food that was difficult to reach. It took the animals a similar amount of time before they could adapt their grip on the stick to the task at hand. According to the researchers, this suggests that the chimpanzees can learn continuously, especially in the first two decades of their lives.