Testing the Social Tolerance Hypothesis for Cultural Evolution in Primates – MacTolerance

Humans are not the only cultural species as key examples of animal traditions have been described, notably in non-human primates. Among monkeys, numerous social conventions, extractive foraging techniques and manipulation behaviours, relying on social learning, have been reported. The complexity and cumulative nature of human culture is nonetheless unmatched in the animal kingdom and the reason why is hotly debated. It has been suggested that social tolerance is a key element to social learning and that a lack of social tolerance can bottleneck social diffusion, and thus the emergence of traditions and cultures. With this project, we aim to test for the ‘Social Tolerance Hypothesis’ by studying captive macaques belonging to four macaque species, each of a different social grade, from the more intolerant one to the more tolerant one. The objective is to conduct systematic comparisons, using similar tasks and data on all tolerance grade species. Our innovative approach will provide novel, cutting-edge knowledge and powerful modeling method to study social transmission.