Project description
Shedding new light on the emergence of tool use in a novel monkey model
Tool-making and use are of particular interest to evolutionary biologists. Chimpanzees (and now also bonobos) appear to be our closest living relatives based on common DNA sequences and chimpanzees have dominated research as models for human behaviour. However, within the last 10 years, capuchin monkey behaviour has increasingly become the focus of captive and field studies. Robust capuchin monkeys are phylogenetically independent from chimpanzees. TechnoC-Cap is investigating capuchin tool use in the wild and excavating tool use sites to better understand the evolution of tool use among robust capuchins, and more broadly, their technological and cultural evolution. Aside from filling a knowledge gap, the outcomes will inform understanding of human evolution in the context of tool use.
Objective
Animal cultures represent an often neglected layer of biological diversity and a powerful model for the study of human evolution. Robust capuchin monkeys (Sapajus spp.) are emerging as a new model for cultural and technological evolution in humans, phylogenetically independent from the established chimpanzee model. Available data suggest a great potential for cultural diversity across the robust capuchins range, especially within the tool use domain. However, capuchins’ behavioural diversity remains so far mostly unknown. This fellowship will establish an innovative, multidisciplinary protocol to map tool use traditions across space and time in wild capuchins not habituated to human presence.
The training through research activity will allow me, a field primatologist, to acquire essential skills to describe animal tool use from an archeological perspective and strengthen my ability to conceive, design and apply behavioral experiments. Specifically, I propose to:
- use environmental surveys and camera trap monitoring to describe tool use behaviour at a new site in terms of behavioural repertoire, tool selection and tool transport;
- test and apply a new approach, based on field experiments, to detect tool use behaviours in primate populations not habituated to human presence;
- excavate tool use sites to trace the temporal development of technological traditions at a previously unstudied geographical location with unhabituated capuchins.
This research will i) extend, for the first time, the field of primate archeology to unhabituated populations of non-human tool-using primates and ii) serve as a platform to launch a large-scale, multidisciplinary exploration of technological and cultural diversity in robust capuchins. This will ultimately allow to tackle the ecological and cultural drivers of behavioural diversity in capuchins and to shed light into evolutionary scenarios about human cultural evolution and the emergence of tool use.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology mammalogy primatology
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering sensors optical sensors
- humanities history and archaeology archaeology
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2018
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
00185 Roma
Italy
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.