Like chimpanzees, bees can learn specific strategies for opening a puzzle box and accessing a reward inside by mimicking the behavior of their trained mates
Culture, at its most basic, refers to socially learned behaviors that are shared among a population. Until the mid-20th century, this ability was thought to be something uniquely human. But bountiful evidence now shows that culture exists in a wide variety of species, from bighorn sheep and vervet monkeys to meerkats and cranes.
Scientists are even discovering that insects can join in their own culture. In a new PLOS Biology study, researchers used a gold-standard test that’s been applied to species such as chimpanzees and great tits to reveal that bumblebees are capable of cultural transmission of information from one insect to another. Bees that were taught one of two solutions for opening a puzzle box spread that behavioral trait to untrained bees, creating a cultural signature for their colony. “This is an animal with a brain the size of a pinhead, and still they could achieve similar things [as] primates or birds, which is quite remarkable,” says lead author Alice Bridges, now a lecturer in biology and animal behavior at Anglia Ruskin University in England, who undertook the study as part of her doctoral research at Queen Mary University of London. – Rachel Nuwer (March 7, 2023)
So let’s see: Humans are the 99% chimpanzee, right? And bumblebees can solve puzzles like chimps. So that means they can solve puzzles 99% as well as humans?
Wait, no. Where is the bumblebee space telescope? Where is the chimp space telescope?
Human exceptionalism is becoming more obvious all the time, just harder to admit.