Hostname: page-component-76d6cb85b7-dqfph Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-07-15T14:04:31.182Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Animal infants as agents of cultural adaptation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2026

Cédric Sueur Open the ORCID record for Cédric Sueur [Opens in a new window] ,
Marie Pelé  and
Michael A. Huffman
Cédric Sueur*
Affiliation:
IPHC, UMR7178, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France cedric.sueur@iphc.cnrs.fr https://sites.google.com/site/cedricsueuranimalbehaviour/
Marie Pelé
Affiliation:
ETHICS EA 7446, Université Catholique de Lille, France marie.pele@univ-catholille.fr https://www.anthropo-lab.com/membre/marie-pele/
Michael A. Huffman
Affiliation:
Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan huffman.michael.8n@kyoto-u.jp Deptartment of Anthropology, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Gangodawila, Sri Lanka https://www.wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/members/HuffmanMA.html
*
*Corresponding author.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The young across animal species act as learners and innovators of cultural behaviors. Early engagement with their social and ecological environment often leads to the emergence of new behaviors that spread within groups. These juvenile-driven innovations play a central role in developing and transmitting animal cultures, which should be recognized and protected as essential components of biodiversity.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 49 , 2026 , e249
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Asquith, P. J. (2003). Culture, Protoculture and the Biosocial Divide : Japanese Perspectives on the Study.Google Scholar
Biro, D., Sousa, C., & Matsuzawa, T. (2006). Ontogeny and cultural propagation of tool use by wild chimpanzees at Bossou, Guinea : Case studies in nut cracking and leaf folding. In Cognitive development in chimpanzees (p. 476–508). Springer.10.1007/4-431-30248-4_28CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, A., & Chalmers, D. (1998). The extended mind. Analysis, 58(1), 7–19. https://doi.org/10.1093/analys/58.1.7 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dean, L. G., Vale, G. L., Laland, K. N., Flynn, E., & Kendal, R. L. (2014). Human cumulative culture : A comparative perspective. Biological Reviews, 89(2), 284–301. https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12053 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fox, E. A., Sitompul, A. F., & Van Schaik, C. P. (1999). Intelligent tool use in wild Sumatran orangutans. The mentality of gorillas and orangutans, 480, 99–116. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511542305.005 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fragaszy, D., Izar, P., Visalberghi, E., Ottoni, E. B., & de Oliveira, M. G. (2004). Wild capuchin monkeys (Cebus libidinosus) use anvils and stone pounding tools. American Journal of Primatology, 64(4), 359–366. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.20085 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Galef, B. G. (1992). The question of animal culture. Human Nature, 3(2), 157–178. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02692251 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Galef, B. G. Jr, & Heyes, C. (2004). Social learning and imitation. Learning and Behavior, 32(1), 267–296.Google Scholar
Henrich, J. (2017). The secret of our success : How culture is driving human evolution, domesticating our species, and making us smarter. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Hirata, S., Watanabe, K., & Masao, K. (2001). Sweet-potato washing Revisited. In Matsuzawa, T. (Éd.), Primate origins of human cognition and behavior (p. 487–508). Springer Japan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-09423-4_24 Google Scholar
Hoppitt, W., & Laland, K. N. (2013). Social learning : An introduction to mechanisms, methods, and models. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Huffman, M. A. (1996). Acquisition of innovative cultural behaviors in nonhuman primates : A case study of stone handling, a socially transmitted behavior in Japanese macaques. In Social learning in animals : The roots of culture (p. 267–289). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-012273965-1/50014-5 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huffman, M. A., & Hirata, S. (2003). Biological and ecological foundations of primate behavioral tradition. In Fragaszy, Dorothy M. and Perry, Susan (Eds.), The biology of traditions: Models and evidence, (pp. 267–296). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511584022.011 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunt, G. R. (1996). Manufacture and use of hook-tools by new Caledonian crows. Nature, 379, 249–251. https://doi.org/10.1038/379249a0 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunt, G. R., & Gray, R. D. (2003). Diversification and cumulative evolution in new Caledonian crow tool manufacture. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 270(1517), 867–874. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2002.2302 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kawai, M. (1965). Newly-acquired pre-cultural behavior of the natural troop of Japanese monkeys on Koshima Islet. Primates, 6, 1–30.10.1007/BF01794457CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laland, K. N. (1998). The evolution of culture. In Akazawa, T., Aoki, K., & Bar-Yosef, O. (Éds.), Neandertals and modern humans in Western Asia (p. 427–438). Springer US. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-47153-1_27 Google Scholar
Laland, K. N., & Hoppitt, W. (2003). Do animals have culture? Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews, 12(3), 150–159. https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.10111 Google Scholar
Leca, J.-B., Gunst, N., & Huffman, M. A. (2007). Japanese macaque cultures : Inter-and intra-troop behavioural variability of stone handling patterns across 10 troops. Behaviour, 144(3), 251–281. https://doi.org/10.1163/156853907780425712 Google Scholar
Lopez, J. C., & Lopez, D. (1985). Killer whales (Orcinus orca) of Patagonia, and their behavior of intentional stranding while hunting Nearshore. Journal of Mammalogy, 66(1), 181–183. https://doi.org/10.2307/1380981 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mann, J., Sargeant, B. L., Watson-Capps, J. J., Gibson, Q. A., Heithaus, M. R., Connor, R. C., & Patterson, E. (2008). Why do dolphins carry sponges? PLOS ONE, 3(12), e3868. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0003868 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Matsuzawa, T. (2015a). Seventy years after the end of World War II. Primates, 56(2), 105–106. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-015-0464-4 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Matsuzawa, T. (2015b). Sweet-potato washing revisited : 50th anniversary of the Primates article. Primates, 56(4), 285–287.10.1007/s10329-015-0492-0CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Matsuzawa, T. (2018). Hot-spring bathing of wild monkeys in Shiga-Heights : Origin and propagation of a cultural behavior. Primates, 59(3), 209–213. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-018-0661-z CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McGrew, W. C. (1998). Culture in nonhuman primates? Annual Review of Anthropology, 27(1998), 301–328. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.anthro.27.1.301 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGrew, W. C., Ham, R. M., White, L. J. T., Tutin, C. E. G., & Fernandez, M. (1997). Why don’t chimpanzees in gabon crack nuts? International Journal of Primatology, 18(3), 353–374. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026382316131 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mesoudi, A., & Thornton, A. (2018). What is cumulative cultural evolution? Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 285(1880), 20180712. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.0712 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nahallage, C., & Huffman, M. (2007). Acquisition and development of stone handling behavior in infant Japanese macaques. Behaviour, 144(10), 1193–1215.10.1163/156853907781890959CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rutz, C., Hunt, G. R., & Clair, J. J. H. S. (2018). Corvid technologies : How do new Caledonian crows get their tool designs? Current Biology, 28(18), R1109–R1111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.031 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sueur, C. (2022). Non-human animal cultures, co-cultures and conservation. Cultural Science, 14(1), 93–102. https://doi.org/10.2478/csj-2022-0013 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sueur, C., Fourneret, É., & Espinosa, R. (2024). Animal capital : A new way to define human-animal bond in view of global changes and food insecurity. Npj Sustainable Agriculture, 2(1), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44264-024-00030-4 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sueur, C., & Huffman, M. A. (2024). Co-cultures : Exploring interspecies culture among humans and other animals. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 39(9), 821–829. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2024.05.011 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sueur, C., Zanaz, S., & Pelé, M. (2023). Incorporating animal agency into research design could improve behavioral and neuroscience research. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 137(2), 129–143. https://doi.org/10.1037/com0000335 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Suzuki, A. (1965). An ecological study of wild Japanese monkeys in snowy areas. Primates, 6(1), 31–72. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01794458 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Takeshita, R. S. C., Bercovitch, F. B., Kinoshita, K., & Huffman, M. A. (2018). Beneficial effect of hot spring bathing on stress levels in Japanese macaques. Primates, 59(3), 215–225. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-018-0655-x CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thornton, A., & McAuliffe, K. (2006). Teaching in wild meerkats. Science, 313(5784), 227–229.10.1126/science.1128727CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tonutti, S. (2011). Anthropocentrism and the definition of ‘culture’ as a marker of the human/animal divide. Brill. https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/9789004214941/Bej.9789004187948.i-348_010.xml 10.1163/ej.9789004187948.i-348.44CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Visser, I. N., Smith, T. G., Bullock, I. D., Green, G. D., Carlsson, O. G. L., & Imberti, S. (2008). Antarctic peninsula killer whales (Orcinus orca) hunt seals and a penguin on floating ice. Marine Mammal Science, 24(1), 225–234. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2007.00163.x CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whiten, A. (2000). Primate culture and social learning. Cognitive Science, 24(3), 477–508.Google Scholar
Whiten, A. (2021). The burgeoning reach of animal culture. Science, 372(6537), eabe6514. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abe6514 Google ScholarPubMed
Whiten, A., Goodall, J., McGrew, W. C., Nishida, T., Reynolds, V., Sugiyama, Y., Tutin, C. E., Wrangham, R. W., & Boesch, C. (1999). Cultures in chimpanzees. Nature, 399(6737), 682–685.10.1038/21415CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Whiten, A., Horner, V., & de Waal, F. B. M. (2005). Conformity to cultural norms of tool use in chimpanzees. Nature, 437(7059), 737–740. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04047 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zentall, T. R. (2022). Mechanisms of copying, social learning, and imitation in animals. Learning and Motivation, 80, 101844. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lmot.2022.101844 CrossRefGoogle Scholar