Even a language-trained bonobo cannot master Oldowan technique

Evidence

The famous language-trained bonobo (a type of chimpanzee), Kanzi, was given stones and shown the Oldowan technique by an expert human stone knapper. Kanzi, however, lacked the dexterity to use the technique, so he invented his own approach, which involved using his full force to smash the stone into the floor or another stone. He would then search the refuse for any stone pieces with a sharp cutting edge. These edges got the particular job done that he wanted, but analyses of the stone assemblages he created show they lack many of the key features of Oldowan stone tools. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 927

Categorization

• SHARE: Kanzi’s improvising his own smash-and-search stone method rather than copying the taught knapping technique is a delightful anecdote for anyone working on animal cognition or tool evolution.
• CANDY: Kanzi the bonobo was shown hand-axe knapping but invented his own floor-smashing method instead — a snappy, fun fact for any conversation about ape ‘culture’.
• XREF: connects to: Stone-tool complexity showed no improvement trend across 700,000 years — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 937; The last common ancestor with chimpanzees had no cumulative culture — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 918