Animal Culture Research Should Include Avian Nest Construction

Material culture—that is, group-shared and socially learned object-related behaviour(s)—is a widespread and diverse phenomenon in humans. For dec-ades, researchers have sought to confirm the existence of material culture in non-human animals; however, the main study systems of interest—namely, tool making and/or using non-human primates and corvids—cannot provide such confirmatory evidence: because long-standing ethical and logistical con-straints handicap the collection of necessary experimental data. Synthesizing evidence across decades and disciplines, here, I present a novel framework for (mechanistic, developmental, behavioural, and comparative) study on animal material culture: avian nest construction.

Publication: Alexis J. Breen, Animal culture research should include avian nest construction, Biology Letters (2023). DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2021.0327

Original Story Source: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology