Move
over fashion week it's the chimps time to shine.
Green
is the new black. At least for the chimpanzees wearing grass in
their ears.
A
group of scientists who are led by Edwinvan Leeuwen were studying a group of
chimps at the Zambia’s ChimfunshiWildlife Orphanage Trust sanctuary. One
of the chimps named Julie repeatedly stuck a stiff blade of grass in
her ear.
 |
| A chimpanzee showcases her new fashion accessory, a blade of grass in Zambia at the Zambia’s Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage Trust sanctuary. (Photo courtesy of Liz Simon / National Geographic) |
Starting with her son other chimps soon followed the trend
and they too put grass in their ears. Leeuwen went on to publish a
studywith his findings.
Just the facts.
- There was was no reason for Julie to start putting grass in her ear.
- Eight out of 12 of the chimps put grass in their ear.
- Even after Julie died the trend continued.
- Shows that chimpanzees can form a culture.
Two chimpanzees putting grass in their ears. (Edwin van Leeuwen/Courtesy of the London Times)
A Cultural Phenomenon.
Scientists
studied 700 hours worth of footage trying to find a reason for the
grass-in-ear trend but found nothing. The conclusion was that it was
for decorative purposes. Much like when humans wear jewelry. A
simple piece of grass stuck in a chimps ear may not seem the same as
a diamond ring, but the ring had to start somewhere. Tens of
thousands of years ago some caveman must have done something similar
to the chimps and made something decorative and useless.
The
most important aspect of the study was that the trend continued after
the originators death. This shows that culture can stick through
multiple generations. It may take the tens of thousands of years it
took humans, but one day chimps might have a culture as complex as
our own.
Would you like to join in?
Try
and come up with your own fashion trend. Convince others to wear it and and see if it takes off!
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