Percussive tool use by Ta? Western chimpanzees and Fazenda Boa Vista bearded capuchin monkeys: a comparison

Percussive tool use holds special interest for scientists concerned with human origins. We summarize the findings from two field sites, Taï and Fazenda Boa Vista, where percussive tool use by chimpanzees and bearded capuchins, respectively, has been extensively investigated. We describe the ecological settings in which nut-cracking occurs and focus on four aspects of nut-cracking that have important cognitive implications, namely selection of tools, tool transport, tool modification and modulation of actions to reach the goal of cracking the nut. We comment on similarities and differences in behaviour and consider whether the observed differences reflect ecological, morphological, social and/or cognitive factors. Both species are sensitive to physical properties of tools, adjust their selection of hammers conditionally to the resistance of the nuts and to transport distance, and modulate the energy of their strikes under some conditions. However, chimpanzees transport hammers more frequently and for longer distances, take into account a higher number of combinations of variables and occasionally intentionally modify tools. A parsimonious interpretation of our findings is that morphological, ecological and social factors account for the observed differences. Confirmation of plausible cognitive differences in nut-cracking requires data not yet available.     

Design complexity in termite-fishing tools of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Adopting the approach taken with New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides), we present evidence of design complexity in one of the termite-fishing tools of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in the Goualougo Triangle, Republic of Congo. Prior to termite fishing, chimpanzees applied a set of deliberate, distinguishable actions to modify herb stems to fashion a brush-tipped probe, which is different from the form of fishing tools used by chimpanzees in East and West Africa. This means that ‘brush-tipped fishing probes’, unlike ‘brush sticks’, are not a by-product of use but a deliberate design feature absent in other chimpanzee populations. The specialized modifications to prepare the tool for termite fishing, measures taken to repair non-functional brushes and appropriate orientation of the modified end suggest that these wild chimpanzees are attentive to tool modifications. We also conducted experimental trials that showed that a brush-tipped probe is more effective in gathering insects than an unmodified fishing probe. Based on these findings, we suggest that chimpanzees in the Congo Basin have developed an improved fishing probe design.     

Wild Goffin’s cockatoos flexibly manufacture and use tool sets

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New Caledonian crows attend to multiple functional properties of complex tools

The ability to attend to the functional properties of foraging tools should affect energy-intake rates, fitness components and ultimately the evolutionary dynamics of tool-related behaviour. New Caledonian crows Corvus moneduloides use three distinct tool types for extractive foraging: non-hooked stick tools, hooked stick tools and tools cut from the barbed edges of Pandanus spp. leaves. The latter two types exhibit clear functional polarity, because of (respectively) a single terminal, crow-manufactured hook and natural barbs running along one edge of the leaf strip; in each case, the ‘hooks’ can only aid prey capture if the tool is oriented correctly by the crow during deployment. A previous experimental study of New Caledonian crows found that subjects paid little attention to the barbs of supplied (wide) pandanus tools, resulting in non-functional tool orientation during foraging. This result is puzzling, given the presumed fitness benefits of consistently orienting tools functionally in the wild. We investigated whether the lack of discrimination with respect to (wide) pandanus tool orientation also applies to hooked stick tools. We experimentally provided subjects with naturalistic replica tools in a range of orientations and found that all subjects used these tools correctly, regardless of how they had been presented. In a companion experiment, we explored the extent to which normally co-occurring tool features (terminal hook, curvature of the tool shaft and stripped bark at the hooked end) inform tool-orientation decisions, by forcing birds to deploy ‘unnatural’ tools, which exhibited these traits at opposite ends. Our subjects attended to at least two of the three tool features, although, as expected, the location of the hook was of paramount importance. We discuss these results in the context of earlier research and propose avenues for future work.     

MATLAB 7.X 生物信息工具箱的应用-- 专用分析工具（ 六）*

序列分析可以获取蕴藏在简单序列中的生物信息,是生物信息分析的基础。通过生物大分子序列差异分析构建的系统树则可为我们提供可视化的物种间的进化关系。MATLAB7.X生物信息工具箱包含了几个图形用户界面设计的专用分析工具,这些专用分析工具交互性好,易于使用。借助于这些分析工具,用户不仅可以对基因序列进行分析查看并能进行相对应的氨基酸序列分析,还可以方便快捷地构建系统发育树。即使用户不会编程也可以进行序列分析和系统发育分析的研究,大大地提高了分析的效率。本文详细介绍了序列分析工具Seqtool和系统发育分析工具Phytreetool在序列分析及系统发育树构建方面的应用,所有操作方便快捷,分析结果可视化程度高。     

Flexible tool set transport in Goffin’s cockatoos

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Mathematics for the Majority

The development of an experimental system which can be used for demonstrating population studies in Chlorella vulgaris, and which is appropriate for use in secondary schools, is described. A culture medium was prepared on the basis of established inorganic nutrient requirements, and several cultures were set up to test the effects of variations in nutrient composition, temperature, pH, light and aeration. A satisfactory system was eventually found which produced an ideal (sigmoidal) population-growth curve within three weeks. A similar pattern of results, though with different growth rates and maximum population levels, was obtained both for controlled and ambient conditions of light and temperature, and for aerated tube and non-aerated flask cultures. Non-aerated tube cultures were relatively ineffective. Two methods were used, the counting of cells and the measurement of optical density, for estimating population density, and comparative results were obtained for serial dilutions of a standard culture.     

旧石器时代的蚌制品

本文记述的蚌制品,系出自山西省新绛县三家店。其地层为粗细砂粒,地貌部位为汾河第三阶地。与蚌制品同一层位出土的哺乳动物化石有Palaeoloxodon namadieus,Equus of.prjewalskyi,Sus sp.,sinomegaceros sp.,Bubalus sp.等。它的发现,为研究汾河中下游地区旧石器时代文化的性质,提供了新的材料。     

A potent effect of observational learning on chimpanzee tool construction

Although tool use occurs in diverse species, its complexity may mark an important distinction between humans and other animals. Chimpanzee tool use has many similarities to that seen in humans, yet evidence of the cumulatively complex and constructive technologies common in human populations remains absent in free-ranging chimpanzees. Here we provide the first evidence that chimpanzees have a latent capacity to socially learn to construct a composite tool. Fifty chimpanzees were assigned to one of five demonstration conditions that varied in the amount and type of information available in video footage of a conspecific. Chimpanzees exposed to complete footage of a chimpanzee combining the two components to retrieve a reward learned to combine the tools significantly more than those exposed to more restricted information. In a follow-up test, chimpanzees that constructed tools after watching the complete demonstration tended to do so even when the reward was within reach of the unmodified components, whereas those that spontaneously solved the task (without seeing the modification process) combined only when necessary. Social learning, therefore, had a powerful effect in instilling a marked persistence in the use of a complex technique at the cost of efficiency, inhibiting insightful tool use.     

中国的原手斧及其传统

中国的原手斧包括双面器、单面器和三稜器三类,分布于华北、华中和华南的几十处地点,以华中的发现最为丰富。它们属于旧石器初期的遗存,旧石器中期以后已大体绝迹。
中国的原手斧与砍砸器、石球等共存,不同于阿舍利文化传统的手斧。中国旧石器初期至少有两个文化传统,即以原手斧为代表的砾石工业和以周口店文化为代表的石片工业,但华北的原手斧传统后来已被石片工业所完全代替。     

An automated protein annotation filter for integrating web-based annotation tools

A wide range of web based prediction and annotation tools are frequently used for determining protein function from sequence. However, parallel processing of sequences for annotation through web tools is not possible due to several constraints in functional programming for multiple queries. Here, we propose the development of APAF as an automated protein annotation filter to overcome some of these difficulties through an integrated approach.     

长滨文化的若干问题

台湾省长滨文化中包涵大量楔型石器,与河南小南海遗址出土石器极为相似。     

Social transmission of tool use and tool manufacture in Goffin cockatoos (Cacatua goffini)

Tool use can be inherited, or acquired as an individual innovation or by social transmission. Having previously reported individual innovative tool use and manufacture by a Goffin cockatoo, we used the innovator (Figaro, a male) as a demonstrator to investigate social transmission. Twelve Goffins saw either demonstrations by Figaro, or ‘ghost’ controls where tools and/or food were manipulated using magnets. Subjects observing demonstrations showed greater tool-related performance than ghost controls, with all three males in this group (but not the three females) acquiring tool-using competence. Two of these three males further acquired tool-manufacturing competence. As the actions of successful observers differed from those of the demonstrator, result emulation rather than high-fidelity imitation is the most plausible transmission mechanism.     

Invention and modification of a new tool use behavior: ant-fishing in trees by a wild chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) at Bossou, Guinea

Wild chimpanzees are known to have a different repertoire of tool use unique to each community. For example, "ant-dipping" is a tool use behavior known in several chimpanzee communities across Africa targeted at driver ants (Dorylus spp.) on the ground, whereas "ant-fishing," which is aimed at carpenter ants (Camponotus spp.) in trees, has primarily been observed among the chimpanzees of Mahale in Tanzania. Although the evidence for differences between field sites is accumulating, we have little knowledge on how these tool use behaviors appear at each site and on how these are modified over time. This study reports two"ant-fishing" sessions which occurred 2 years apart by a young male chimpanzee at Bossou, Guinea. Ant-fishing had never been observed before in this community over the past 27 years. During the first session, at the age of 5, he employed wands of similar length when ant-fishing in trees to those used for ant-dipping on the ground, which is a customary tool use behavior of this community. Two years later, at the age of 7, his tools for ant-fishing were shorter and more suitable for capturing carpenter ants. This observation is a rare example of innovation in the wild and does provide insights into problem-solving and learning processes in chimpanzees.     

Functional capabilities of modern and fossil hominid hands: three-dimensional analysis of trapezia

Three-dimensional (3D) trapezium models from Homo sapiens, Gorilla gorilla, Pan troglodytes, Australopithecus afarensis (A.L.333-80), and Homo habilis (O.H.7-NNQ) were acquired through laser digitizing. Least-square planes were generated for each articular surface, and the angles between the planes were compared. Each extant species displays an overall pattern that distinguishes it from the others. The observed angles in G. gorilla and P. troglodytes are more similar to one other than either is to H. sapiens. Our results, obtained from using new 3D modeling and analytical tools, raise interesting questions about the functional capabilities of the fossil trapezia. Multivariate statistical analyses indicate that A.L.333-80 is morphologically more similar to that of modern humans, whereas the O.H.7 trapezium is more similar to that of the gorilla. Significant differences between A.L.333-80 and the extant species occur, but some similarities to humans suggest the ability to form the distinctively human forceful pad-to-side and three-jaw chuck grips. Some key morphological differences from humans highlighted and quantified by our research suggest limitations in the functional capabilities of the O.H.7 trapezium, particularly in those that facilitate pronation at the base of the second metacarpal. If the O.H.7 trapezium represents part of the hand responsible for manufacturing and using the stone tools found at Olduvai, our results suggest that the hand manipulated the stones in a way for which we have no modern analog. Alternative considerations are that the O.H.7 trapezium is not representative of other trapezia from its species (i.e., N=1), or that it represents another primate or hominid species.     

LCA Software tool for corrugated board

FEFCO, Groupement Ondulé and Kraft Institute have integrated the data from their recently published updated “European Database for Corrugated Board Life Cycle Studies” into a software tool that has been developed especially for the corrugated board industry. The tool links input and output data reported in the Database to average European data for upstream and downstream processes from BUWAL 250 [3]. The tool is intended to support environmental management of companies since it provides a possibility to find opportunities for improvements and to take environment into consideration when designing corrugated board boxes. The entire system of corrugated packaging is the basis for the calculations. It is assumed that the fibres that are used for the production of the corrugated base papers are produced and recycled only within this system. This simplified so-called closedloop approach, which is described in detail in the Database report, avoids the problem of allocating impacts caused by primary fibre production and the final treatment of corrugated packaging that is not recycled between primary and recovered fibre based paper grades. This means that with the software tool it is not possible to make comparisons between the production of primary fibre and recovered fibre based materials as such. The tool enables the user to vary parameters such as transport, box design, logistics and waste management according to his personal circumstances. In this way he can use the tool to introduce parameters for possible alternatives he wants to investigate. The LCA results of these alternative cases can then be compared and analysed at inventory, characterisation, normalisation and weighing level. The user cannot change the basic data nor the methodology.     

Spontaneous use and modification of a feather as a tool in a captive common raven

Here, we report an observation of a zoo‐housed common raven (Corvus corax) modifying and using a raven feather as a tool to access the food cache of her partner. We believe this record is of importance, as it represents one of the first cases of untrained common ravens spontaneously using and modifying a tool, and a rare example of a non‐human animal manufacturing a tool from a body part. This anecdotal observation suggests that tool use and tool modification may be present in the common raven behavioral repertoire in the foraging context; nevertheless, further investigations are needed to assess this possibility in more controlled settings as well as in the wild.