Animal cognition experiments frequently reveal striking individual variation but rarely
consider its causes and largely ignore its potential consequences. Studies often focus on a …

The sight of an animal making and using a tool captivates scientists and laymen alike,
perhaps because it forces us to question some of our ideas about human uniqueness. Does …

Cumulative technological culture (CTC) refers to the increase in the efficiency and
complexity of tools and techniques in human populations over generations. A fascinating …

The habitual consumption of large-animal resources (eg, similar sized or larger than the
consumer) separates human and nonhuman primate behavior. Flaked stone tool use …

The Primate Origins of Human Nature (Volume 3 in The Foundations of Human Biology
series) blends several elements from evolutionary biology as applied to primate behavioral …

All modern humans use tools to overcome limitations of our anatomy and to make difficult
tasks easier. However, if tool use is such an advantage, we may ask why it is not evolved to …

Recent studies in several taxa have demonstrated that animal culture can evolve to become
more efficient in various contexts ranging from tool use to route learning and migration …

Stone hammering in natural conditions has been extensively investigated in chimpanzees
and bearded capuchins. In contrast, knowledge of stone tool use in wild Old World monkeys …

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 …

Within the animal kingdom, complex brains and high intelligence have evolved several to
many times independently, eg among ecdysozoans in some groups of insects (eg blattoid …