Resource depletion through primate stone technology
Tool use has allowed humans to become one of the most successful species. However, tool-assisted foraging has also pushed many of our prey species to extinction or endangerment, a technology-driven process thought to be uniquely human. Here, we demonstrate that tool-assisted foraging on shellfish by...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2017
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/86567 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/44053 |
| _version_ | 1811697671896825856 |
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| author | Luncz, Lydia V Tan, Amanda Haslam, Michael Kulik, Lars Proffitt, Tomos Malaivijitnond, Suchinda Gumert, Michael David |
| author2 | School of Humanities and Social Sciences |
| author_facet | School of Humanities and Social Sciences Luncz, Lydia V Tan, Amanda Haslam, Michael Kulik, Lars Proffitt, Tomos Malaivijitnond, Suchinda Gumert, Michael David |
| author_sort | Luncz, Lydia V |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Tool use has allowed humans to become one of the most successful species. However, tool-assisted foraging has also pushed many of our prey species to extinction or endangerment, a technology-driven process thought to be uniquely human. Here, we demonstrate that tool-assisted foraging on shellfish by long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) in Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park, Thailand, reduces prey size and prey abundance, with more pronounced effects where the macaque population size is larger. We compared availability, sizes and maturation stages of shellfish between two adjacent islands inhabited by different-sized macaque populations and demonstrate potential effects on the prey reproductive biology. We provide evidence that once technological macaques reach a large enough group size, they enter a feedback loop – driving shellfish prey size down with attendant changes in the tool sizes used by the monkeys. If this pattern continues, prey populations could be reduced to a point where tool-assisted foraging is no longer beneficial to the macaques, which in return may lessen or extinguish the remarkable foraging technology employed by these primates. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T07:58:58Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/86567 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T07:58:58Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/865672020-03-07T12:10:38Z Resource depletion through primate stone technology Luncz, Lydia V Tan, Amanda Haslam, Michael Kulik, Lars Proffitt, Tomos Malaivijitnond, Suchinda Gumert, Michael David School of Humanities and Social Sciences Primate stone technology Tool-assisted foraging Tool use has allowed humans to become one of the most successful species. However, tool-assisted foraging has also pushed many of our prey species to extinction or endangerment, a technology-driven process thought to be uniquely human. Here, we demonstrate that tool-assisted foraging on shellfish by long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) in Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park, Thailand, reduces prey size and prey abundance, with more pronounced effects where the macaque population size is larger. We compared availability, sizes and maturation stages of shellfish between two adjacent islands inhabited by different-sized macaque populations and demonstrate potential effects on the prey reproductive biology. We provide evidence that once technological macaques reach a large enough group size, they enter a feedback loop – driving shellfish prey size down with attendant changes in the tool sizes used by the monkeys. If this pattern continues, prey populations could be reduced to a point where tool-assisted foraging is no longer beneficial to the macaques, which in return may lessen or extinguish the remarkable foraging technology employed by these primates. Published version 2017-11-15T07:38:44Z 2019-12-06T16:24:52Z 2017-11-15T07:38:44Z 2019-12-06T16:24:52Z 2017 Journal Article Luncz, L. V., Tan, A., Haslam, M., Kulik, L., Proffitt, T., Malaivijitnond, S., et al. (2017). Resource depletion through primate stone technology. eLife, 6, e23647-. 2050-084X https://hdl.handle.net/10356/86567 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/44053 10.7554/eLife.23647 en eLife © 2017 Luncz et al (Published by eLife Sciences Publications). This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited. 16 p. application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Primate stone technology Tool-assisted foraging Luncz, Lydia V Tan, Amanda Haslam, Michael Kulik, Lars Proffitt, Tomos Malaivijitnond, Suchinda Gumert, Michael David Resource depletion through primate stone technology |
| title | Resource depletion through primate stone technology |
| title_full | Resource depletion through primate stone technology |
| title_fullStr | Resource depletion through primate stone technology |
| title_full_unstemmed | Resource depletion through primate stone technology |
| title_short | Resource depletion through primate stone technology |
| title_sort | resource depletion through primate stone technology |
| topic | Primate stone technology Tool-assisted foraging |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/86567 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/44053 |
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