The Primate Diaries  Cultural Transmission in Chimpanzees  i-
e262adf34f2371d509a160ddee2574eb-20090308_chimp_meat.jpegCulture
defines who we are but few can explain where it comes from or
why we adopt one tradition over another. In the classic musical
The Fiddler on the Roof the main character, Tevye, muses on this
basic fact of human existence:   The origin of particular
cultural traits in human populations has long been a mystery to
anthropologists. Many societies have responded the same way
Tevye did, “it’s merely part of our culture, what else do you
need to know?” Nevertheless, the maintenance and dissemination
of cultural traits remains a fascinating topic that scientists
have long struggled to understand. More recently, however,
researchers have discovered that humans aren’t unique in this
regard. Nonhuman primates also have culture and research into
how this is transmitted between individuals has recently taken a
major step forward.  While nonhuman primates don’t have obvious
cultural traditions the s