ReviewInterface focus2017
A second inheritance system: the extension of biology through culture.
Review in Interface focus, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
42 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Knowledge transmission, culture and the consequences of social disruption in wild elephants.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Pooled it
- From whom do animals learn? A meta-analysis on model-based social learning.Psychonomic bulletin & review · 2023Pooled it
- Article
- The evolution of the concepts of 'primate culture' in Western science.Primates; journal of primatology · 2026Review
- Conformity and individual preference shape nest material use in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata).PloS one · 2026Article
- Article
- Atypical tool and object use in wild immature chimpanzees reveals developmental pathways to innovation.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Culture and conservation in baleen whales.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Review
- Cultural processes and demography: implications for conservation and beyond.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Article
- The effect of habitat health and environmental change on cultural diversity and richness in animals.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Review
- Animal culture: conservation in a changing world.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Article
- Patterns of Technical Variation in Chimpanzee Termite Fishing Behavior in Mbam and Djerem National Park, Cameroon.American journal of primatology · 2025Article
- An eye-tracking study of visual attention in chimpanzees and bonobos when viewing different tool-using techniques.Animal cognition · 2025Article
- Ecological correlates of chimpanzee termite fishing behavior in Mbam & Djerem National Park, Cameroon.Ecology and evolution · 2024Article
- A close look at sociality in DSM criteria.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2024Review
- Sperm whale clans and human societies.Royal Society open science · 2024Review
- Competition and generalization impede cultural formation in wild jackdaws.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2023Article
- Biased cultural transmission of a social custom in chimpanzees.Science advances · 2023Article
- Identifying the Effects of Social Disruption through Translocation on African Elephants (Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
- Distinctive, fine-scale distribution of Eastern Caribbean sperm whale vocal clans reflects island fidelity rather than environmental variables.Ecology and evolution · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
By the mid-twentieth century (thus following the 'Modern Synthesis' in evolutionary biology), the behavioural sciences offered only the sketchy beginnings of a scientific literature documenting evidence for cultural inheritance in animals-the transmission of traditional behaviours via learning from others (social learning). By contrast, recent decades have seen a massive growth in the documentation of such cultural phenomena, driven by long-term field studies and complementary laboratory experiments. Here, I review the burgeoning scope of discoveries in this field, which increasingly suggest that this 'second inheritance system', built on the shoulders of the primary genetic inheritance system, occurs widely among vertebrates and possibly in invertebrates too. Its novel characteristics suggest significant implications for our understanding of evolutionary biology. I assess the extent to which this second system extends the scope of evolution, both by echoing principal properties of the primary, organic evolutionary system, and going beyond it in significant ways. This is well established in human cultural evolution; here, I address animal cultures more generally. The further major, and related, question concerns the extent to which the consequences of widespread animal cultural transmission interact with the primary, genetically based inheritance systems, shaping organic evolution.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.