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Science 3 January 2003:
Vol. 299. no. 5603, pp. 102 - 105
DOI: 10.1126/science.1078004
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Reports

Orangutan Cultures and the Evolution of Material Culture

Carel P. van Schaik,1* Marc Ancrenaz,2 Gwendolyn Borgen,1 Birute Galdikas,34dagger Cheryl D. Knott,5 Ian Singleton,6 Akira Suzuki,7 Sri Suci Utami,89 Michelle Merrill1

Geographic variation in some aspects of chimpanzee behavior has been interpreted as evidence for culture. Here we document similar geographic variation in orangutan behaviors. Moreover, as expected under a cultural interpretation, we find a correlation between geographic distance and cultural difference, a correlation between the abundance of opportunities for social learning and the size of the local cultural repertoire, and no effect of habitat on the content of culture. Hence, great-ape cultures exist, and may have done so for at least 14 million years.

1 Department of Biological Anthropology and Anatomy, Duke University, Post Office Box 90383, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
2 Kinabatangan Orang-Utan Conservation Project, Post Office Box 3109, 90734 Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia.
3 Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6 Canada.
4 Orangutan Foundation International, 822 South Wellesly Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90049, USA.
5 Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Peabody Museum, 53C, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
6 Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme, Post Office Box 1472, Medan 20000, Indonesia.
7 Primate Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi 484, Japan.
8 Fakultas Biologi, Universitas Nasional, Jalan Sawo Manila, Pejaten, Pasar Minggu, Jakarta 12520, Indonesia.
9 Department of Behavioral Biology, University of Utrecht, Post Office Box 80086, 3508 TB Utrecht, Netherlands.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: vschaik{at}duke.edu

dagger    Present address: Orangutan Foundation International, 4201 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 407, Los Angeles, CA 90010, USA.

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