This book introduces to the reader unfamiliar with primatology in Japan
three research projects representative of the unique multidisciplinary
approach carried out by scientists at Kyoto University, the country's
premier institution for primate studies. The projects are all aimed at
understanding the age-old questions, where did we come from, and what
makes us unique or similar to our primate ancestors? The first chapter,
by Naofumi Nakagawa, focuses on the cultural diversity of social
behavior in the Japanese macaque. This chapter reviews research on
primate culture, in particular the work on Japanese macaques, then
presents what is arguably the first example of a culturally transmitted
social convention in the species, called "hug-hug". The second chapter,
by Michael A. Huffman, introduces our current knowledge of
self-medication in primates, based largely on a long-term study of wild
chimpanzees at Kyoto University's longest ongoing chimpanzee field in
Africa, Mahale, in Tanzania. The suite of behavioral adaptations to
parasite infections in chimpanzees is compared with our current
knowledge of self-medication in other primates and other animal species.
The third chapter, by Yasuhiro Go, Hiroo Imai, and Masaki Tomonaga,
describes the ambitious efforts to combine cognitive science and
genomics into a new discipline called "comparative cognitive genomics".
This chapter provides an overview of recent advancements in chimpanzee
comparative cognition, the construction of a chimpanzee genomic
database, and comparative genomic studies at the individual level,
looking into factors affecting personality and individuality.
