The human tendency to mimic each other's behaviors in order to fit in is proving to not be just something's humans do, but also monkeys. The study suggests these primates pass along culture by teaching each other behavioral and survival traits.
In a new study published Thursday in the journal Science, a study of wild vervet monkeys in South Africa showed that when a choice between two foods, infant monkeys ate only the foods that their mothers ate. Meanwhile, young males that ventured to other groups soon switched to the local diet, preferring to go with the flow rather than against it.
"Some of the ways of learning that we have thought were distinctly human are more broadly shared across nonhuman primates," said study co-author Andrew Whiten, a cognitive biologist at the University of St. Andrews in the United Kingdom.
"As the saying goes, 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do', our findings suggest that a willingness to conform to what all those around you are doing when you visit a different culture is a disposition shared with other primates," Whiten said.
Dr Erica van de Waal also from the University of St Andrews conducted field experiments at the Inkawu Vervet Project in the Mawana private game reserve in South Africa. She became familiar with all 109 monkeys, making it possible for her to document the behavior of the males who migrated to new groups.
"The willingness of the immigrant males to adopt the local preference of their new groups surprised us all. The copying behaviour of both the new, naive infants and the migrating males reveals the potency and importance of social learning in these wild primates, extending even to the conformity we know so well in humans," she said.
