ArticleCommunications biology2025
Observational social learning of "know-how" and "know-what" in wild orangutans: evidence from nest-building skill acquisition.
Article in Communications biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 3 papers.
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
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Chimpanzee culture beyond the conspicuous: Evidence for broad-scale observational social learning in wild individuals.iScience · 2026Article
- Culture is critical in driving orangutan diet development past individual potentials.Nature human behaviour · 2026Article
- Observational social learning of "know-how" and "know-what" in wild orangutans: evidence from nest-building skill acquisition.Communications biology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Immature great apes learn how to build their nests over multiple years, yet how they do so has remained largely unclear. We investigated the detailed role of social learning in the acquisition of nest-building skills in wild Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii) using data on nest-building, nest practice, and nest peering behaviour from 44 individuals, collected over 17 years. We found that nest peering (but not being close to a nesting individual without peering) is associated with a significant increase in nest practice and is primarily directed at multi-step nest elements. Dependent immatures mostly peer at their mothers and use nest tree species in common with her, independent immatures peer at a larger range of individuals and use nest tree species in common with them. Our results suggest that orangutans acquire their nest-building skills through observational social learning, selective attention to "know-how" and the transmission of "know-what" information.
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Registered trials
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