Lead researcher on the chimp study, Dr Catherine Hobaiter, explains how the new type of tool use spread through the group of animals
Researchers have captured the spread of a new type of tool use in a wild population of chimps.
They say this is the first clear evidence of wild chimpanzees developing a new culture.
As the team filmed the animals at a field station in Uganda, they noticed that some of them started to make a new type of leaf sponge – something the animals use to drink.
This new behaviour soon spread throughout the group.
Leaf sponges allow wild chimps to drink from watering holes
The findings are published in the journal Plos Biology.
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