Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

I Wanna Draw Like You: Inter- and Intra-Individual Differences in Orang-utan Drawings

Version 1 : Received: 14 September 2021 / Approved: 16 September 2021 / Online: 16 September 2021 (11:20:42 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Pelé, M.; Thomas, G.; Liénard, A.; Eguchi, N.; Shimada, M.; Sueur, C. I Wanna Draw Like You: Inter- and Intra-Individual Differences in Orang-Utan Drawings. Animals 2021, 11, 3202. Pelé, M.; Thomas, G.; Liénard, A.; Eguchi, N.; Shimada, M.; Sueur, C. I Wanna Draw Like You: Inter- and Intra-Individual Differences in Orang-Utan Drawings. Animals 2021, 11, 3202.

Abstract

This study analyses 749 drawings of five female Bornean orang-utans (Pongo pygmaeus) at Tama Zoological Park in Japan. We searched for differences between individuals but also tried to identify possible temporal changes among the drawings of one individual, Molly, who drew almost 1,300 drawings from 2006 to 2016. An analysis of the drawings was carried out after collecting quantitative and qualitative variables. Our findings reveal evidence of differences in the drawing style of the five individuals as well as creative changes in Molly’s drawing style throughout her lifetime. Individuals differed in terms of the colours used, the space they filled but also the shapes (fan patterns, circles or loops) they drew. Molly drew less and less as she grew older, and we found a significant difference between drawings produced in winter, when orang-utans were kept inside and had less activity, and those produced during other seasons. Our results suggest that the drawing behaviour of these five orang-utans is not random and that differences among individuals might reflect differences of styles, states of mind but also motivation to draw.

Keywords

Primate cognition; scribbles; evolutive anthropology; art; aesthetics

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Animal Science, Veterinary Science and Zoology

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