Question

For primates, how is living in a “social system” an adaptation for survival? provide a very brief explanation.

Answer 1

No primate other than humans is known to store food. They have a hand-to-mouth economy which forces everyone to seek food and water daily. However, adult male chimpanzees and adult bonobos of both genders cooperate with others in their community in hunting monkeys and other small game. While they do not store the meat, they do use it for social gain by sharing it. Jane Goodall has observed a chimpanzee carry a carcass as far as a mile over grasslands to reach the safety of trees before eating it.

Tool manufacture and use are virtually non-existent among non-human primates. However, gorillas, common chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, and capuchin monkeys are notable exceptions. Some of them use very simple tools to help in acquiring food and water. For instance, chimpanzees have been observed stripping the leaves from twigs to make probes to get termites and ants to eat. They use similar modified sticks to obtain honey from beehives in tree trunks and from up to a meter underground in subterranean hives. Twigs are also used by them at times as toothpicks.