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Who to copy? The rules underlying social transmission of a new foraging technique in wild vervet monkeys
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International audience. Social transmission, defined as the acquisition of new behaviours from others by directlyobserving and copying their behaviour, is considered as the basis for traditions and culture.The rules underlying how a new behaviour spread in a whole group are still poorly known.With the aim to fill this gap, we conducted an open diffusion experiment with no trainedmodel in which eight identical puzzle boxes that could be open through two different openingtechniques have been simultaneously proposed within two wild groups of 28 and 12 vervetmonkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. The aim of this studywas to test whether box opening techniques were socially transmitted between individuals andwhich social network can predict social learning opportunities. Were close friends, relatedindividuals, females, older individuals or high-ranking individuals considered as preferredmodels? The data were analysed using a pioneering new model-fitting approach namedNetwork Based Diffusion Analysis (NBDA) that take into account the order with whichindividuals acquired the opening techniques. We found that individuals preferentially usedtechniques displayed by the individuals they watched evidencing that box opening techniqueswere socially transmitted. We use NBDA to assess what strategies the monkeys use whendeciding who to copy. This project had the interest to combine field experiment and powerfulSocial Network Analyses that can shed new light on the evolution of culture.
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