Do you think that humans are the only ones that follow fashion trends? Well, think again.

In 2010, a primate expert, Edwin Van Leeuwen started noticing that a group of Zambian Chimpanzees has been sticking a blade of grass in their ears.

Chimpanzee with 'grass-in-the ear' trend in Zambia,
Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014. (Photo by Liz Simon)

Researcher Edwin Van Leeuwen first noticed this behavior in a chimp in Zambia’s Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage. Julie would put a stiff, straw-like blade of grass on her ears for no apparent reason.

During the following visits, Van Leeuwen saw that other chimpanzees in Julie’s group had started to copy her.

The Study

His team studied 700 hours of video footage to understand how the “grass-in-ear” trend developed in four different groups of chimpanzees.

“They spontaneously copied the arbitrary behavior from a group member. Chimpanzees have a tendency to learn from one another – clearly a case of “monkey see, monkey do” in fact,” writes Van Leeuwen

They saw that eight out of 12 chimpanzees in Julie’s group followed the trend.

Is Fashion Universal?

The researches believe that this behavior has no apparent purpose. It appears to be only ornamental like jewelry or fashion.

Maybe since Chimpanzee’s do not have the options to go out and buy ornaments, they have to resort to something that can be found in nature; like a piece of grass.

Behavior Dominates Culture

It was concluded that there are no genetic or ecological factors that influence this behavior.

The only thing that could have caused this is culture. Maybe the “grass-in-ear” is used to identify themselves as members of different groups.

Culture tends to be followed and kept from generations to generations.

The chimpanzees kept up the custom even after Julie, the original inventor of this behavior, died. Behavior may prove that the primates are capable of creating their own culture.

Sometimes a behavior is simply followed for no apparent reason. If you see a trend in fashion, such as wearing sunglasses in dark places, you might adopt it simply because you like it.

The trend doesn’t need to have a scientific explanation behind it.

And maybe this is what is happening with the chimpanzees. Chimp Julie started it, and they adopted it because they liked it or because they looked after her.

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