Proc. R. Soc. B doi:10.1098/rspb.2010.1112 (2010)

Culture may not be the only factor underlying differences in tool use and other behaviours across groups of wild chimpanzees — genetic variation may also play a part.

Primatologists have previously invoked culture to explain why, for instance, one chimpanzee community digs for termites and another does not, even when their ecological environments are similar. Kevin Langergraber at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, and his team analysed DNA from cell organelles called mitochondria for 246 chimps spanning nine groups in East and West Africa to determine how the groups were related to one another. They then compared these relationships with existing data on whether or not members from these sites display any of 38 different behaviours — many involving tool use. Genetically related communities often had a similar suite of behaviours.