Researchers have observed that adult chimpanzees in Senegal pass on tools and food to younger members of their group, possibly helping them learn complicated skills. This behavior was discovered through a study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, which analyzed nearly 15 hours of video footage of wild western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in Senegal’s Dindefelo region. The study was conducted by scientists from the Jane Goodall Institute Spain in Senegal and the University of Barcelona, who focused on areas where chimpanzees use tools for activities such as fishing for algae, army ants, and fungus-growing termites, as well as pounding baobab fruit against stone anvils. The researchers recorded 33 instances of tool transfers and four instances of food transfers between chimpanzees. The majority of these exchanges—58%—occurred during the activity of "ant dipping," in which chimpanzees use sticks to fish for army ants. Another 30% happened during algae fishing, and 12% during termite fishing. Most of the original tool owners were adult chimpanzees, particularly females, and the recipients were mostly infants. A significant portion of these interactions—30%—took place between family members, with mothers transferring tools to their offspring. The study also captured footage of previously undocumented behaviors, such as a mother chimpanzee teaching her infant how to use a dipping stick to extract ants. Another instance showed a juvenile male demonstrating how to pound baobab fruit, a technique that a younger chimpanzee named Fotti then imitated. These observations suggest that tool transfers may represent a form of teaching, where experienced individuals—often mothers—serve as models and instructors for younger chimpanzees. Teaching, in this context, involves the active adjustment of a teacher’s behavior to help the learner understand and replicate a skill. The study raises important questions about the role of teaching in the transmission of complex behaviors among great apes. It prompts further inquiry into whether more complex skills require more teaching, or if those who receive more instruction are more likely to become skilled teachers themselves. The findings highlight the potential significance of social learning in chimpanzee communities and offer new insights into the evolution of teaching behaviors in non-human primates.