This project, in collaboration with Dr. William D. Snyder (PI), systematically investigates stone tool replica manipulation and hand grips in naïve, relevant, zoo-housed non-human primates including robust capuchins (Sapajus sp.), macaques (Macaca sp.), chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), bonobos (Pan paniscus), and mandrills/drills (Mandrillus sp.)

The collected data will be used to create new hypotheses about the behavior of prehistoric hominins (i.e., extinct human relatives). Naïve, captive primates are ideal for this research because they lack the same cultural biases as enculturated primate and human models. This will also serve as a complement to previous work on toolmaking innovation in humans and apes (e.g., Bandini et al., 2021; Snyder et al., 2022).