Ontogeny

Developing a use for toolstool use

Orangutans have been documented using tools in the wild (7). Tool use arises when an orangutan manipulates the environment for his or her own use (note: most of these tools have only been observed in Pongo abelii). Some examples include the following:

  • breaking sticks to scratch one's back.
  • using branches to whip at bothersome wasps.
  • building rain hats from leaves.
  • building roofs over their sleeping shelter.
  • modifying sticks to pry open fruit and access hard-to-reach insects.

The wide range of tools used and the orangutans ability to solve problems has led some primatologists to assert that orangutans, not chimpanzees, have the nearest level of intelligence to humans.

Orangutan culture?

Do Orangutans have a culture?

Some researchers have documented instances where adult male orangutans teach juveniles how to use certain tools for certain activities, or instances when orangutans observe and mimick their peers (4). The "kiss-squeak" is a highly variable communication that researchers believe orangutans learn from one another. These learned behaviors mark distinct behavioral patterns in different groups of orangutans. Many primatologists believe the variety of behaviors and the relationship of those orangutans that share a behavior is a form of culture (9).

NPR has made audio and video resources about orangutan culture available on their website.