Abstract
Nishida andUehara have contrasted two groups of chimpanzees at the Mahale Mountains in their manner of obtaining termites for food. K-group very rarely used tools, but evidence suggested that B-group did so regularly to fish forMacrotermes. They suggested that this difference was not a cultural one, but was explained by the absence ofMacrotermes in K-group's range. We attempted to test this hypothesis, and here examine the termite fauna in the ranges of the two groups. Our data confirm that termite-fishing was contingent upon the presence ofMacrotermes in B-group's range, and that cultural explanations are not necessary to explain the rarity of tool use by K-group, which instead could catchPseudacanthotermes without using tools. Comparison of the termite faunas in the ranges of K-group, of B-group, and of the chimpanzees at Gombe, suggest that, apart fromMacrotermes, two genera might be the main alternative prey:Pseudacanthotermes, which could be more commonly included in the diet at Gombe, and might also be eaten by B-group, andCubitermes which is available at both these sites.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Burnham, K. P., D. R. Anderson, & J. L. Laake, 1980. Estimation of density from line transect sampling of biological populations.Wildl. Monogr., No. 72.
Collins, D. A. &W. C. McGrew, 1985. Chimpanzees' (Pan troglodytes) choice of prey among termites (Macrotermitinae) in Western Tanzania.Primates, 26: 375–389.
---- & ----, in prep. Habitats of three groups of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in western Tanzania compared.
Ferrar, P., 1982. Termites of a south African savanna II. Densities and populations of smaller mounds, and seasonality of breeding.Oecologia, 52: 133–138.
Ghiglieri, M. P., 1984.The Chimpanzees of Kibale Forest. Columbia Univ. Press, New York.
Goodall, J.van Lawick-, 1968. The behaviour of free-living chimpanzees in the Gombe Stream Reserve.Anim. Behav. Monogr., 1: 161–311.
Goodall, J., 1986.The Chimpanzees of Gombe. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Harris, W. V., 1936. A list of the termites of Tanganyika Territory, with descriptions of two new species.Bull. Ent. Res., 27: 361–368.
Izawa, K. &J. Itani, 1966. Chimpanzees in Kasakati Basin, Tanganyika (1) Ecological study in the rainy season 1963–1964.Kyoto Univ. Afr. Stud., 1: 73–156.
Kano, T., 1979. A pilot study on the ecology of pygmy chimpanzees,Pan paniscus. In:The Great Apes,D. A. Hamburg &E. R. McCown (eds.), Benjamin-Cummings, Menlo Park, California, pp. 122–135.
Kruuk, H. &W. A. Sands, 1972. The aardwolf (Proteles cristatus Sparrman 1783) as predator of termites.East African Wildlife Journal, 10: 211–227.
Lepage, M., 1984. Distribution, density and evolution ofMacrotermes bellicosus nests (Isoptera: Macrotermitinae) in the north-east of Ivory Coast.J. Anim. Ecol., 53: 107–117.
McGrew, W. C, 1979. Evolutionary implications of sex differences in chimpanzee predation and tool use. In:The Great Apes,D. A. Hamburg &E. R. McCown (eds.), Benjamin-Cummings, Menlo Park, California, pp. 440–463.
, 1983. Animal foods in the diet of wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): why cross-cultural variation?J. Ethol., 1: 46–61.
&D. A. Collins, 1985. Tool-use by wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) to obtain termites (Macrotermes ?herus) in the Mahale Mountains, Tanzania.Amer. J. Primatol., 9: 47–62.
&M. E. Rogers, 1983. Chimpanzees, tools, and termites: new record from Gabon.Amer. J. Primatol., 5: 171–174.
,C. E. G. Tutin, &P. J. Baldwin, 1979. Chimpanzees, tools, and termites: cross-cultural comparisons of Senegal, Tanzania, and Rio Muni.Man (N.S.), 14: 185–214.
Nishida, T., 1979. The social structure of chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains. In:The Great Apes,D. A. Hamburg &E. R. McCown (eds.), Benjamin-Cummings, Menlo Park, California, pp. 72–121.
&S. Uehara, 1980. Chimpanzees, tools, and termites: another example from Tanzania.Curr. Anthropol., 21: 671–672.
&, 1983. Natural diet of Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii): longterm record from the Mahale Mountains, Tanzania.Afr. Stud. Monogr., 3: 109–130.
Noirot, Ch., 1977. Nest construction and phylogeny in termites.Proc. 8th. Int. Congr. I.U.S.S.I., Wageningen, Netherlands.
Pomeroy, D. E., 1976. Studies on a population of large termite mounds in Uganda.Ecol. Entomol., 1: 49–61.
Ruelle, J. E., 1970. A revision of the termites of the genusMacrotermes from the Ethiopian Region (Isoptera: Termitidae).Bull. Br. Mus. Nat. Hist. (Entomol.), 24: 365–444.
Sabater Pí, J., 1974. An elementary industry of the chimpanzees in the Okorobiko Mountains, Rio Muni (Republic of Equatorial Guinea), West Africa.Primates, 15: 351–364.
Suzuki, A., 1966. On the insect-eating habits among wild chimpanzees living in the savanna woodland of western Tanzania.Primates, 7: 481–487.
Teleki, G., 1974. Chimpanzee subsistence technology: materials and skills.J. Human Evol., 3: 575–594.
Tutin, C. E. G. &M. Fernandez, 1983. Gorillas feeding on termites in Gabon, West Africa.J. Mammal., 64: 530–531.
Uehara, S., 1982. Seasonal changes in the techniques employed by wild chimpanzees in the Mahale Mountains, Tanzania, to feed on termites (Pseudacanthotermes spiniger).Folia Primatol., 37: 44–76.
, 1986. Sex and group differences in feeding on animals by wild chimpanzees in the Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania.Primates, 27: 1–13.
Wrangham, R. W., 1975. Behavioural ecology of chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, Tanzania. Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Cambridge.
, 1977. Feeding behaviour of chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, Tanzania. In:Primate Ecology,T. H. Clutton-Brock (ed.), Academic Press Inc., London, pp. 503–538.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
About this article
Cite this article
Collins, D.A., McGrew, W.C. Termite fauna related to differences in tool-use between groups of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Primates 28, 457–471 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02380861
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02380861