Scientists have identified dozens of previously overlooked cultural behaviors in wild chimpanzees, suggesting that the great ape's culture extends far beyond complex skills like tool use. In a single community, they found nearly 70 behaviors that chimpanzees appear to learn from one another—almost doubling previous estimates of cultural behaviors across African chimpanzee populations.

For over two years, the research team followed 28 wild chimpanzees of all ages, from infants to older adults, at the Budongo Conservation Field Station in Uganda. From morning to late afternoon, they observed the daily lives of the apes in detail, recording the behavior of focal individuals as well as others within five meters. This allowed them to track what and whom chimpanzees observed closely.