[7] Evidence for animal culture is often based on studies of feeding behaviors,[8] vocalizations,[4] predator avoidance,[9] mate selection,[10] and migratory routes.

[4] Some evidence suggests that the ability to engage in vocal learning depends on the development of specialized brain circuitry, detected in humans, dolphins, bats and some birds.

[9][12][13] Culture can be defined as "all group-typical behavior patterns, shared by members of animal communities, that are to some degree reliant on socially learned and transmitted information".

The broadening scope of evolution from simple genes to more abstract concepts, such as designs and behaviors makes the idea of evolutionary culture more plausible.

[24] Using a quantifiable approach, Cavalli-Sforza & Feldman were able to produce mathematical models for three forms of cultural transmission, each of which have distinct effects on socialization: vertical, horizontal, and oblique.

Differences in cultural transmission across species have been thought to be largely affected by external factors, such as the physical environment, that may lead an individual to interpret a traditional concept in a novel way.

Imitation has been found to be one of the most prevalent modes of cultural transmission in non-human animals, while teaching and language are much less widespread, with the possible exceptions of primates and cetaceans.

[citation needed] The likelihood of larger groups within a species developing and sharing these intra-species traditions with peers and offspring is much higher than that of one individual spreading some aspect of animal behavior to one or more members.

Cultural transmission, as opposed to individual learning, is therefore a more efficient manner of spreading traditions and allowing members of a species to collectively inherit more adaptive behavior.

For this to occur, a teacher must change its behavior when interacting with a naïve individual and incur an initial cost from teaching, while an observer must acquire skills rapidly as a direct consequence.

[40] Teaching is arguably the social learning mechanism that affords the highest fidelity of information transfer between individuals and generations, and allows a direct pathway through which local traditions can be passed down and transmitted.

In the scientific community, imitation is rather the process in which an organism purposefully observes and copies the methods of another in order to achieve a tangible goal.

For example, a Grey parrot by the name of Alex underwent a series of tests and experiments at the University of Arizona in which scientist Irene Pepperberg judged his ability to imitate the human language in order to create vocalizations and object labels.

[43] Alex's capabilities of using and understanding more than 80 words, along with his ability to put together short phrases, demonstrates how birds, who many people do not credit with having deep intellect, can actually imitate and use rudimentary language skills in an effective manner.

[44] The results of this experiment culminated with the conclusion that the use of the English language to refer to objects is not unique to humans and is arguably true imitation, a basic form of cultural learning found in young children.

In 1952, Japan's leading primatologist of the time, Kinji Imanishi, first introduced the idea of "kaluchua" or "pre-culture" in referring to the now famous potato-washing behavior of Japanese macaques.

The researching scientists found 65 different categories of behaviors among these various groups of chimpanzees, including the use of leaves, sticks, branches, and stones for communication, play, food gathering or eating, and comfort.

[21] In 1999, Whiten et al. examined data from 151 years of chimpanzee observation in an attempt to discover how much cultural variation existed between populations of the species.

[citation needed] Second only to non-human primates, culture in species within the order Cetacea, which includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises, has been studied for numerous years.

Since the early 1970s, scientists have studied these four species in depth, finding potential cultural attributes within group dialects, foraging, and migratory traditions.

[55] Even within the same community clan, the three southern resident orca pods maintain unique, stable dialects separate from each other's, though they are associated and share some pulsed calls and whistles.

[55] By using a "process of elimination" approach, researchers Krutzen et al.[61] reported evidence of culturally transmitted tool use in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.).

Additionally, they found high levels of genetic relatedness from spongers, suggesting recent ancestry and the existence of a phenomenon researchers call a "sponging eve".

[70] In an experiment regarding at vocal behavior in birds, researchers Marler and Tamura found evidence of song dialects in a sparrow species known as Zonotrichia leucophrys.

[76] Later experimental evidence showed that conformity may lead to the horizontal spread of innovative behaviors in wild birds, and that this may in turn result in a lasting cultural tradition.

Aerial photographs showed that gull-induced lesions on local whales increased in frequency from 2% to 99% from 1974 to 2011, and that this behavior was not observed in any other kelp gull populations other than two isolated incidents.

[78] In New South Wales, researchers and citizen scientists were able to track the spread of lid-flipping skills as cockatoos learned from each other to open garbage bins.

[87] A 2016 study used RFID identification transponders to experimentally manipulate avian social networks: this scanner technology allowed them to restrict access to feeders for some birds and not others.

Additionally, the existing "paths" of information transmission were altered following segregation during feeding: this was attributed to changes in the population's social network.

In an experimental setting, tits preferentially adopted the locally popular method of opening a two-action puzzle box even after discovering the other possible way of accessing the food.