Chimpanzees fall for futile ‘fashions', just like humans
It is, by all appearances, a trend with no practical purpose. Yet it may, primatologists believe, say something profound about the origins of human culture.
Researchers recorded the odd behaviour within one tightly bonded group of eight captive chimps at the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage, all of whom had been rescued from the illegal pet trade as juveniles. Within weeks, five of them were inserting grass or twigs into their ears.
What was striking was not only the strangeness of the custom but the apparent lack of any functional benefit. When the researchers tried putting grass in their own ears, they decided it was quite unpleasant.
'This isn't about cracking nuts or fishing for termites. It's more like chimpanzee fashion,' said Dr Jake Brooker of Durham University, co-author of a study published in the journal Behaviour. 'It mirrors how human cultural fads spread: someone starts doing something, others copy it and it becomes part of the group identity, even if it serves no clear purpose — and even if it's sometimes uncomfortable.'
Chimpanzees were already known for a diverse repertoire of traditions. In the wild, some groups throw rocks at trees, creating collections of stones that have been mistaken for human shrines. Nobody knows why. Others use carefully selected tools to crack nuts or fish for termites.
The 'grass in the ear' trend was seen more than a decade ago among a separate group at the Chimfunshi refuge. The fad seems to have been revived and has now been studied in more depth.
• Chimps sharing boozy fruit may point to the origins of pub culture
The new study, led by Dr Edwin van Leeuwen of Utrecht University, used a statistical approach known as network-based diffusion analysis to show that the behaviour spread through observation rather than individual trial and error.
Why engage in something so seemingly pointless? The researchers suspect the explanation lies in the social lives of chimpanzees, especially in captivity. 'They don't have to stay as alert or spend as much time searching for food,' Van Leeuwen said. 'That may give them more cognitive room for play, experimentation and copying each other.'
Brooker speculates that these arbitrary acts might function as social glue, much like human trends, from bell-bottom jeans to TikTok dances. 'They may be helping strengthen social bonds or signal group belonging,' he said. 'By studying the seemingly odd but socially meaningful behaviours of chimpanzees, we gain powerful insights into how our own cultures may have evolved.'
Chimps are not the only animals with a fondness for fleeting 'fashions'. Orcas living in the Pacific Northwest were recently seen engaging in a peculiar fad for 'salmon hats', which involved them swimming around with dead salmon on their heads. As with the chimpanzees, the behaviour offered no obvious survival benefit but spread socially. It may have suggested an appetite for shared ritual, perhaps even for mischief.
'Our findings demonstrate just how much we still share with our primate cousins and challenge the idea that symbolic or arbitrary traditions are uniquely human,' Brooker said.
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