Damn dirty apes! Chimpanzees 'hunt using spears'

[BurtWorm]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6387611.stm


Chimps trimmed the spears up to a point

Chimpanzees in Senegal have been observed making and using wooden spears to hunt other primates, according to a study in the journal Current Biology.

Researchers documented 22 cases of chimps fashioning tools to jab at smaller primates sheltering in cavities of hollow branches or tree trunks.

The report's authors, Jill Pruetz and Paco Bertolani, said the finding could have implications for human evolution.

Chimps had not been previously observed hunting other animals with tools.

Pruetz and Bertolani made the discovery at their research site in Fongoli, Senegal between March 2005 and July 2006.

"There were hints that this behavior might occur, but it was one time at a different site," said Jill Pruetz, assistant professor of anthropology at Iowa State University, US.

"While in Senegal for the spring semester, I saw about 13 different hunting bouts. So it really is habitual."

[banana republican]

1. Yea those Republicons never do play fair....

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. How about a raccoon using a rock to crack a turtle shell?

Kept me awake all night once.

[Cleita]

10. Sea otters do the same don't they?

We really aren't the only tool using animals, nor only the one that alters the landscape to build homes. We just do it on a scale that other species don't.

[radfringe]

12. it's more than just using a rock or a stick

it's taking something and modifying it for a specific purpose

if the otter took a rock, and chipped at it to make it a certain shape - this would show some level of intelligence needed to modify the surrounding environment

with chimps - they take a stick and modify it for a specific purpose. they strip off the leaves and extra branches to use as a weapon, or in other instanced use it to stick down an ant hill

[Cleita]

13. I was referring to the racoon, but I get your point.

However racoons have little hands similar to primates.

[xchrom]

3. wow -- that is incredible.

i wonder how this will sit in the wider world?

[JHB]

21. They'll never know...

...unless the chimps are named Brittany, Anna Nicole, or Paris.

[Solly Mack]

4. Chimps Shown Using Not Just a Tool but a "Tool Kit"

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/10/1006_041006_chimps.html

Thank you for posting the article!!!!

Thought I'd share another one.

I like this sort of stuff. :)

and here's another good one

Aggression toward large carnivores by wild chimpanzees of Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=3557232&dopt=Abstract

[BurtWorm]

11. Just last week I posted something on ancient chimpanzee tools

that were recently found in the Ivory Coast.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=215556

[Solly Mack]

22. Great! Thanks, again!!!!!

[Monkeyman]

5. Oh no Bush will call up more

[Wafture]

6. They took her out of rehab?

[malaise]

7. They're watching the evil cousins - man. n/t

[TechBear_Seattle]

8. Has anyone found The Monolith yet?

Black, non-reflective material in the proportion of 1 x 4 x 9. Occasionally accompanied by eerie music, might be full of stars.

[shadowknows69]

18. I found one at a flea market in Jersey once.

I threw it away after my dog started playing with my shotgun.

[banana republican]

20. Yes

One was found a Magnuson Park a few years ago...

[valerief]

9. I'm so glad my ancestors were bonobos and not chimps (with a chimperor). nt

[Cleita]

14. Bonobos are actually a cousin. We have a common ancestor

with them. They aren't our ancestors.

[valerief]

15. Thanks, but my ancestors' ancestors are my ancestors (in my book). nt

[IDemo]

16. That's ridiculous

Everybody knows they use nukular weapons and spiteful conservative political rhetoric as their primary weapons.

[shadowknows69]

17. Just waiting us out huh Apes?

Probably won't have to wait until the 40th century as it was in the movie. We'll fuck things up a lot quicker than that. I suspect you may have to fight the cockroaches for supremecy. They've been waiting longer.

[stubtoe]

19. Only one thing still separates humans from the (rest of the) animals:

Humans are the only animal known that actually BORROWS tools.

:D