Chimpanzees Using Spears To Hunt

[which doctor]

Chimpanzees 'hunt using spears'
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."

Jabbing weapon

Chimpanzees were observed jabbing the spears into hollow trunks or branches, over and over again. After the chimp removed the tool, it would frequently smell or lick it.

In the vast majority of cases, the chimps used the tools in the manner of a spear, not as probes. The researchers say they were using enough force to injure an animal that may have been hiding inside.

However, they did not photograph the behaviour, or capture it on film.

In one case, Pruetz and Bertolani, , from the Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies in Cambridge, UK, witnessed a chimpanzee extract a bushbaby with a spear.

In most cases, the Fongoli chimpanzees carried out four or more steps to manufacture spears for hunting.

In all but one of the cases, chimps broke off a living branch to make their tool. They would then trim the side branches and leaves.

In a number of cases, chimps also trimmed the ends of the branch and stripped it of bark. Some chimps also sharpened the tip of the tool with their teeth.

Female lead

Adult males have long been regarded as the hunters in chimp groups.

But the authors of the paper in Current Biology said females, particularly adolescent females, and young chimps in general were seen exhibiting this behaviour more frequently than adult males.

"It's classic in primates that when there is a new innovation, particularly in terms of tool use, the younger generations pick it up very quickly. The last ones to pick up are adults, mainly the males", said Dr Pruetz, who led the National Geographic-funded project.

This is because young chimps pick the skill up from their mothers, with whom they spend a lot of their time.

"It's a niche that males seem to ignore," Dr Pruetz told BBC News.

Many areas where chimpanzees live are also home to red colobus monkey, which the chimps hunt. However, the Senegal site is lacking in this species, so chimps may have needed to adopt a new hunting strategy to catch a different prey - bushbaby.

The authors conclude that their findings support a theory that females may have played a similarly important role in the evolution of tool technology among early humans.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/scie...ure/6387611.stm (http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/6387611.stm)

Published: 2007/02/22 17:13:50 GMT

© BBC MMVII

[Political_Chucky]

I would have to see this in order to believe it, because it seems really crazy that they are starting to evolve into something more intelligent.

[The Anarchist Prince]

Well holy shit...imagine when they start talking and building primitive villages....The 2nd part may not be too far off now.

[R_P_A_S]

Originally posted by [email protected] 23, 2007 05:45 am
I would have to see this in order to believe it, because it seems really crazy that they are starting to evolve into something more intelligent.
yeah i agree.. lets see some proof!!

[Vargha Poralli]

Chimps have been already know in using tools. It is possible for them to develope to spears.

[TC]

In the vast majority of cases, the chimps used the tools in the manner of a spear, not as probes. The researchers say they were using enough force to injure an animal that may have been hiding inside.

However, they did not photograph the behaviour, or capture it on film.


what??? how could chimp behavioral researchers or any field biologist *not* bring camera equipment...unless they were making it up.

[coda]

Well, if that ain't like 'Planet of the Apes'! Pretty smart creatures those cousins of ours.

I was just reading an article last week about Chimps making and using hammers as early as 4,000 years ago.

http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2007/212/1

if you want to read a thrilling story about when we were primates, check out Jack London's "Before Adam" to hear the tales of Lop ear, Red eye and The Swift One and how the "humans" came and displaced them. Rough times, then.

http://london.sonoma.edu/Writings/BeforeAdam/

[apathy maybe]

I don't believe this. Because if it was true it would damage my belief that chimpanzees are sub humans who we should be able to do anything we want to. Including torture or raise to eat.

[Jazzratt]

Originally posted by apathy [email protected] 23, 2007 04:05 pm
I don't believe this. Because if it was true it would damage my belief that chimpanzees are sub humans who we should be able to do anything we want to. Including torture or raise to eat.
Really, I choose not to believe it because there is very little evidence and the fact there are no pictures or videos is extremely dodgy.

[Janus]

Obviously, these spears aren't the type of spears that we usually think of. They are probably just sharp sticks that the primates insert into tree cavities. The article has yet to state that the chimps have actually learned how to throw them,etc. which is definitely a lot more difficult. I really don't see why this is surprising that chimps are evolving to a certain extent and that we have yet to fully understand their culture and skills through study.
Science Daily (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070222155719.htm)

[which doctor]

Originally posted by R_P_A_S+February 23, 2007 01:13 am--> (R_P_A_S @ February 23, 2007 01:13 am)
[email protected] 23, 2007 05:45 am
I would have to see this in order to believe it, because it seems really crazy that they are starting to evolve into something more intelligent.
yeah i agree.. lets see some proof!! [/b]
So you two don't believe in evolution now?

[Phalanx]

Originally posted by The Anarchist [email protected] 23, 2007 05:50 am
Well holy shit...imagine when they start talking and building primitive villages....The 2nd part may not be too far off now.
"May not be too far off" could be hundreds of thousands or millions of years. Taking into account they don't go extinct in 1000 years.

[The Anarchist Prince]

Originally posted by Tatanka Iyotank+February 23, 2007 06:50 pm--> (Tatanka Iyotank @ February 23, 2007 06:50 pm)
The Anarchist [email protected] 23, 2007 05:50 am
Well holy shit...imagine when they start talking and building primitive villages....The 2nd part may not be too far off now.
"May not be too far off" could be hundreds of thousands or millions of years. Taking into account they don't go extinct in 1000 years. [/b]
Yeah, I mean "not too far off" in evolutionary terms. But I mean, you look at humans, and there wasn't a ton of time between tools and cave dwellings and such....lol, what if they discover fire? :o




And to the people not believing this: Uh, why? If you've ever watched a documentary on a primate, they are pretty smart for an animal. Just because they aren't human doesn't mean they can't kill each other with pointy objects.

[ahab]

Originally posted by [email protected] 23, 2007 01:10 am
Chimpanzees 'hunt using spears'
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."

Jabbing weapon

Chimpanzees were observed jabbing the spears into hollow trunks or branches, over and over again. After the chimp removed the tool, it would frequently smell or lick it.

In the vast majority of cases, the chimps used the tools in the manner of a spear, not as probes. The researchers say they were using enough force to injure an animal that may have been hiding inside.

However, they did not photograph the behaviour, or capture it on film.

In one case, Pruetz and Bertolani, , from the Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies in Cambridge, UK, witnessed a chimpanzee extract a bushbaby with a spear.

In most cases, the Fongoli chimpanzees carried out four or more steps to manufacture spears for hunting.

In all but one of the cases, chimps broke off a living branch to make their tool. They would then trim the side branches and leaves.

In a number of cases, chimps also trimmed the ends of the branch and stripped it of bark. Some chimps also sharpened the tip of the tool with their teeth.

Female lead

Adult males have long been regarded as the hunters in chimp groups.

But the authors of the paper in Current Biology said females, particularly adolescent females, and young chimps in general were seen exhibiting this behaviour more frequently than adult males.

"It's classic in primates that when there is a new innovation, particularly in terms of tool use, the younger generations pick it up very quickly. The last ones to pick up are adults, mainly the males", said Dr Pruetz, who led the National Geographic-funded project.

This is because young chimps pick the skill up from their mothers, with whom they spend a lot of their time.

"It's a niche that males seem to ignore," Dr Pruetz told BBC News.

Many areas where chimpanzees live are also home to red colobus monkey, which the chimps hunt. However, the Senegal site is lacking in this species, so chimps may have needed to adopt a new hunting strategy to catch a different prey - bushbaby.

The authors conclude that their findings support a theory that females may have played a similarly important role in the evolution of tool technology among early humans.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/scie...ure/6387611.stm (http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/6387611.stm)

Published: 2007/02/22 17:13:50 GMT

© BBC MMVII
its going to be planet of the apes muthafuckers!!!!! fuck our revolution, theirs will probably come first!

[piet11111]

i believe it i have seen them use pieces of wood as clubs on animal planet a few times.

i bet it wont be long untill these chimps get filmed to verify this claim.

[Sentinel]

Even though evolution does happen I'm quite sure this (if true, as there was no evidence) is simply a case of adapting. Like the article says:


Many areas where chimpanzees live are also home to red colobus monkey, which the chimps hunt. However, the Senegal site is lacking in this species, so chimps may have needed to adopt a new hunting strategy to catch a different prey - bushbaby.

Chimps and other primates are intelligent animals, and it's no news that with the right circumstances they are capable of quite a lot. Just look at individual animals who have been brought up amongst humans. Koko the gorilla (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koko_(gorilla)) comes to mind; she is a master of sign language and communication with humans -- she has even made the lyrics to an album entitled Gorilla Fine Animal. :o

[Political_Chucky]

Originally posted by FoB+February 23, 2007 03:09 pm--> (FoB @ February 23, 2007 03:09 pm)
Originally posted by [email protected] 23, 2007 01:13 am

[email protected] 23, 2007 05:45 am
I would have to see this in order to believe it, because it seems really crazy that they are starting to evolve into something more intelligent.
yeah i agree.. lets see some proof!!
So you two don't believe in evolution now? [/b]
Nah, thats not what I mean. I meant like I would like to just see some proof because any one can just say they have seen the chimps start using spears. But now that I really think about it, this is pretty likely because I have remembered seeing this documentary about some chimps who had been using a rock to smash nuts or some fruit or something. This is pretty fascinating, but I believe none of us will really see primates evolve to the point they can be considered as intelligent as us, even considereing an adult primate is as smart as a 2 year old.

[FriedFrog]

Regarding the authenticity of this article, I think we can expect the BBC to publish an article that has a factual background. They aren't just gonna spout any unfounded claim.

[Mujer Libre]

Originally posted by Sentinel
Even though evolution does happen I'm quite sure this (if true, as there was no evidence) is simply a case of adapting.
Yup, it's not necessarily an evolutionary (in the sense of genetic) change because, on at least some level chimps have culture. What I mean by that is that particular groups of chimps have learned behaviours that are group-specific and can be imitated by other chimps. (some chimps use rocks as hammers to break open food, others don't- and the same goes for using sticks to fish for insects) So it's quite possible that one or two chimps successfully stabbed something with a stick (as Janus pointed out- 'spear' is only a loose description) and other chimps caught on to the idea and kept doing it.

[Severian]

Originally posted by [email protected] 22, 2007 11:45 pm
I would have to see this in order to believe it, because it seems really crazy that they are starting to evolve into something more intelligent.
The article doesn't assert they are. It's long been known the clean up twigs to stick 'em into termite mounds and eat termites - this probably isn't much more complex. It's a lot less complex than chipping a flint spearhead and then mounting it on the end of a finished spearshaft.

Chipping flint tools, as early humans or even Homo Erectus did, isn't simple. Archaeologists have spent decades teaching themselves to replicate ancient stone tools. Stone tools improved through technological progress over hundreds of thousands of years.

Our complex tool-making ability evolved from something - the much simpler ability seen in chimps. Natural selection needs something to work on - some variation that affects an organism's ability to survive and/or reproduce. Our language ability evolved from other primates' much simpler communication abilities - some kinds of monkeys have 20 or more different calls.

Like other discoveries, this one does need to be witnessed by more observers, but it's not particularly hard to believe.

The thing about how this new skill was developed is interesting....possibly a bit of antidote to a lot of male-supremacist pseudoscience.

Another thing we have, and no other species: culture. That is, the systematic transmission of information down through generations. Other species learn from watching their mothers, as the article mentions. But it ain't the same.

It would be easy for this skill to be lost, and hard for other bands of chimps to pick it up. Thousands of years ago chimps were using stones as hammers - they still are today, but humans aren't. So no, this isn't the beginning of chimp technological progress.

[EwokUtopia]

Those chimps are nothing but copycats.

We invented the spear, its ours!





Were these chimps in the wild, or in a preservation, or somewhere with close contact with humans? It is possible that close contact with humans could more or less encourage them to start using tools.

[Hit The North]

Those chimps are nothing but copycats.

We invented the spear, its ours!

:lol:

[apathy maybe]

Severian: You assert that no other animal has culture except humans. Except you fail to back up this vaguely Cartesian opinion with evidence or links to articles which also have this opinion. You define culture as "the systematic transmission of information down through generations", but then reject one method of transmission (learning from the mother).

You mention that it would be hard for other bands of chimpanzees to pick up this sort of behavior from this band, yet again, you provide no evidence to support this claim.



Basically, I'm not saying you are wrong, simply that you claims have a tinge of Cartesian crap to them and that you don't have any evidence. The difference between humans and other animals is not in kind, but rather in amount (if you know what I mean).

[Vargha Poralli]

The difference between humans and other animals is not in kind, but rather in amount (if you know what I mean).

Seriously what do you mean ? Can you also explain your whole point ???.

I think Severian is saying that Chimps have been known to use tools so it is not a surprise and it is not evolution.



Originally posted by Ewokutopia+--> (Ewokutopia) Those chimps are nothing but copycats.

We invented the spear, its ours![/b]

They could have done it on their own ...

Somebody in Slashdot
Mammalia -> Primates -> Hominoidea -> Hominidae -> Homininae -> Hominini -> Pan -> Pan Troglodytes (Chimpanzee)
Mammalia -> Primates -> Hominoidea -> Hominidae -> Homininae -> Hominini -> Homo -> Homo Sapiens (Human)

[Comrade J]

At Chester zoo, I once saw a chimp using a stick to get to an apple that had fallen in the river.

Not quite on the same scale, but I was fairly impressed. :D

[ichneumon]

Another thing we have, and no other species: culture. That is, the systematic transmission of information down through generations. Other species learn from watching their mothers, as the article mentions. But it ain't the same.

this is not the accepted scientific opinion. whale migration patterns and songs are cultural. not silly newage stuff, this is what we call it. particularly, whales changed their migration patterns to get away from whalers, but still maintain those patterns - particularly in hawaii, which was not a whale mating ground before WWII.

[Severian]

Originally posted by [email protected] 25, 2007 09:21 pm

Another thing we have, and no other species: culture. That is, the systematic transmission of information down through generations. Other species learn from watching their mothers, as the article mentions. But it ain't the same.

this is not the accepted scientific opinion. whale migration patterns and songs are cultural. not silly newage stuff, this is what we call it.
I don't want to have a purely terminological argument. But whale songs and changed migration patterns are certainly not the same thing as human culture. That would be like saying that monkey warning calls are language, or learning how to make a sharpened stick is technology.

All our abilities are evolved from traits found in other species, since natural selection needs something to work on. But they have evolved far beyond them: because upright posture and hands freed for tool use created a tremendous natural-selection advantage for greater intelligence.


particularly, whales changed their migration patterns to get away from whalers, but still maintain those patterns - particularly in hawaii, which was not a whale mating ground before WWII.

See, humans could change back.

[apathy maybe]

g.ram: What I meant by that was, the differences between humans and other animals are in how much, rather then having separate categories for humans.

Fuck.

Humans have certain characteristics. They can (once they have learnt) communicate, build things and so on. Other animals can do these things too. The differences are that humans (generally, but not always, such as in the case of babies or really retarded people) can do these things to a different (sometimes greater) extent. Humans can probably communicate a wider range of emotions and so on to other humans, then can dogs to dogs for example. There is nothing that is uniquely human, all human characteristics, are shared by other animals.

So, humans can use tools, so can chimpanzees, humans can learn and have culture, so do chimpanzees. I'm not saying that the culture is as complicated, I doubt that it is, simply that it exists.

To argue that there is something special about humans that no other animals shares, well I regard that position as unscientific and non-materialist.

[Severian]

See, a large enough quantitative difference sometimes becomes a qualitative difference.

I think it's pretty obvious this is one of those cases. No other species on earth would be having this discussion.

[ichneumon]

See, humans could change back.

the whales explored new territory and liked it. euroamericans could go back to europe, we don't, have we no culture? [trick question]

there's this odd selective use of science in this board. science says "NO GOD", that's good, science says something you don't like, it's coporate propaganda. no, it doesn't work that way:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18725144.000.html


Killer whales and chimpanzees both pass on "traditions" to other members of their group, according to two separate studies of feeding behaviour. The findings add to evidence that cultural learning is widespread among animals.


see also: Cultural Revolution In Whale Songs, Michael J. Noad, D.H. Cato, M. M. Bryden, M-N. Jenner, K. Curt, S. Jenner, Nature, Vol 408,11/30/00

[redcannon]

i don't know, i suppose a monkey using a spear is cool, but i won't be impressed till i see a chimpanzee walking into the forest and shooting up the place with a monkey AK.

and severian, warning cries can be considered language. it is verbal communication between two or more entities, and each "cry" is specific to a purpose.

[Severian]

Originally posted by [email protected] 26, 2007 02:42 pm
and severian, warning cries can be considered language. it is verbal communication between two or more entities, and each "cry" is specific to a purpose.
Words are not specific to a purpose. Sorry, this is pretty specious.

[ichneumon]

researchers have long been interested in self-awareness in animals. for one experiment, they tried anesthetizing chimps then putting a dot on their heads. when the chimps woke up, they were presented with a mirror. if they looked in the mirror then touched their own forheads, this was taken as evidence of self-awareness.

this experiment was later tried with dolphins, the dolphins being slapped with a hidden stickers during play. the dolphins, when presented with a large underwater mirror, completely ignored the dots in favor of having sex in front of the mirror, which they apparently found intensely amusing. both dolphins were male, but hey, they're smarter than us, so whatever.

:P

[Ihavenoidea]

thats intersting but I would need a bit more info and maybe a tape...