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How do chimps learn their skills?

Researchers have been investigating whether chimps pass on their skills as they move from one group to another, or if those skills are innate and instinctive. Comparing a large database of observed chimpanzee behaviours, together with genetic lineages, Cassandra Gunasekaram and Andrea Migliano, of the University of Zurich, found that types of more complex tool usage can be correlated with reproductive overlaps between different chimp communities.

(Photo: A chimpanzee uses a stick to retrieve food. Credit: Getty Images)

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15 minutes