Spears are latest discovery in chimps' toolbox

ABC Science Online, Australia ^ | 2/23/2007 | Maggie Fox, Reuters

[VxH]

Chimpanzees have been seen using spears to hunt bushbabies, US researchers say in a study that demonstrates a whole new level of tool use and planning by our closest living relatives.

Perhaps even more intriguing, it was only the females who made and used the wooden spears to hunt the tiny nocturnal primates, report Assistant Professor Jill Pruetz and Paco Bertolani of Iowa State University.

Bertolani saw an adolescent female chimp use a spear to stab a bushbaby as it slept in a tree hollow, pull it out and eat it.

Pruetz and Bertolani, now at the University of Cambridge, had been watching the Fongoli community of savanna-dwelling chimpanzees in southeastern Senegal.

The chimps apparently had to invent new ways to gather food because they live in an unusual area for their species, the researchers report online in the journal Current Biology.

"This is just an innovative way of having to make up for a pretty harsh environment," Pruetz says.

The chimps must come down from trees to gather food and rest in dry caves during the hot season.

"It is similar to what we say about early hominids that lived maybe 6 million years ago and were basically the precursors to humans."

Chimpanzees are genetically the closest living relatives to human beings, sharing more than 98% of our DNA. Scientists believe the precursors to chimps and humans split off from a common ancestor about 7 million years ago.

Chimps are known to use tools to crack open nuts and fish for termites. Some birds use tools, as do other animals such as gorillas, orangutans and even naked mole rats.

But the sophisticated use of a tool to hunt with has never been seen.

Pruetz thinks it was a fluke when Bertolani saw the adolescent female hunt and kill the bushbaby.

But then she saw almost the same thing. "I saw the behaviour over the course of 19 days almost daily," she says.

Planning and foresight

The chimps choose a branch, strip it of leaves and twigs, trim it down to a stable size and then chew the ends to a point. Then they use it to stab into holes where bushbabies might be sleeping.

It is not a highly successful method of hunting. They only ever saw one chimpanzee succeed in getting a bushbaby once. The apes mostly eat fruit, bark and legumes.

Part of the problem is this group of chimps is shy of humans, and the females, who seem to do most of this type of hunting, are especially wary.

"I am willing to bet the females do it even more than we have seen," she says.

Pruetz notes that male chimps never use the spears. She believes the males use their greater strength and size to grab food and kill prey more easily, so the females must come up with other methods.

"That to me was just as intriguing if not even more so," Pruetz says.

The spear-hunting occurred when the group was foraging together, again unchimplike behaviour that might produce more competition between males and females, she says.

Maybe females invented weapons for hunting, Pruetz says.

"The observation that individuals hunting with tools include females and immature chimpanzees suggests that we should rethink traditional explanations for the evolution of such behaviour in our own lineage," she concludes.

"The multiple steps taken by Fongoli chimpanzees in making tools to dispatch mammalian prey involve the kind of foresight and intellectual complexity that most likely typified early human relatives."

[VxH]

["I am willing to bet the females do it even more than we have seen," she says.]

 

Hmmm, note to self:

 

Beware of small hairy women with pointee shticks.

 

 

[ivyleaguebrat]

That was fast :)

[driftdiver]

Next they'll find proof that chimps discovered fire and invented the wheel.

[ivyleaguebrat]

Haha, didn't notice you were the poster.. I guess I should have said: "You had that pic lying around waiting for something like this?"

[icwhatudo]

[Loud Mime]

Chimps are now protesting global warming at the nearby college....well, they looked like chimps.

[VxH]

[Chimps are now protesting global warming at the nearby college....]

 

Yep, and now we've got this:

 

[Bertolani saw an adolescent female chimp use a spear to stab a bushbaby]

 

Attacking Bush Babies?

 

Somebody ping the Secret Service.

[TYVets]

I'm John Kerry and I just got me a huntin' license and a spear.

[MaxMax]

Lets see, Chimps are like Humans, and Female chimps were superior to male chimps,
and male chimps are nothing but thuggish brutes. Got it.

They better act fast and throw in the Gay chimps and Islamic chimps
before there's a resolution created by the UN.

Not this crap again.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Pruetz thinks it was a fluke when Bertolani saw the adolescent female hunt and kill the bushbaby.

But then she saw almost the same thing. "I saw the behaviour over the course of 19 days almost daily," she says.

All it would take is one chimp in that colony to "invent" this. The rest would quickly be "monkey see monkey do."

[naturalman1975]

It's the start of a whole new arms race!!!

[VxH]

>>It's the start of a whole new arms race!!!

Yep, the French just got passed up again.

[zarf]

Whoops! The ID crowd's gonna feel threatened!

[dfwgator]

Oh great, yet another Britney Spears thread.

[villagerjoel]

Yeah, the next thing you know these monkeys are going to be driving cars and writing books and we're all going to feel pretty silly for thinking humans are superior. /s

[Paleo Conservative]

This is the first image I got when I did and image search on Google for "spears".

[harrowup]

My quick response to the headline was, Now, what has Brittany done?

Then I reread the headline and realized it was not:

Spears discovered in chimps' toolbox

[harrowup]

Oh great, yet another Britney Spears thread.

Ding dang it, you beat me to it.

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

Who supports Chimp Haven?
Chimp Haven has both a private and public funding base. Federal funding will partially facilitate the sanctuary’s construction and the chimpanzees’ care, provided that Chimp Haven meets the government’s matching requirements via private sources.

Chimp Haven’s private funding has come from animal welfare organizations like the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty To Animals, the Humane Society of the United States, and the National Anti-Vivisection Society; as well as generous individuals, foundations, and corporations from around the world. In addition to financial support, the Caddo Parish Commission in northwestern Louisiana contributed the 200 acres of forested land for the first sanctuary. Also, Chimp Haven is supported by hundreds of dedicated volunteers throughout the U.S. and beyond.

FEDERAL FUNDING

How did the National Institutes of Health funding come about?
The funding became available through the CHIMP (Chimpanzee Health Improvement, Maintenance and Protection) Act, a law passed by the US Congress on December 22, 2000. The Act provides funding for chimpanzees no longer used in biomedical research. The law was the outcome of years of lobbying by many diverse groups who support the concept of retirement for research chimpanzees.
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0oGkkk8hd5FmfoACKBXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTE3a3NhYmhyBGNvbG8DdwRsA1dTMQRwb3MDMgRzZWMDc3IEdnRpZANERkQ1XzEyNg--/SIG=11roii0di/EXP=1172297404/**http%3a//www.chimphaven.org/about-faq.cfm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Your Tax Dollars At Work !!

The Veterans Home ain't finished yet,,,

A republican put up the "Monkey~Money",,,

[ChristianDefender]

LOL...
sometimes search bars depends on trends not the actual meaning...

[RunningWolf]

This looks to be an extension of the chimps use of a blade of grass in a termite mound.

I don't think the researchers understand the concept of a spear :)

It is no small task to construct a well performing spear and engage its use successfully in a hunt. When we see chimps construct even a rudimentary spear and take down a wild hog or what not, then I will start to worry! BTW the chimps will get extra credit if they throw the spear instead of poop.

[SoCal Pubbie]

What was left out of the story was that the chimp threw the spear up in the air with glee, and it came down a spaceship in orbit, with a Strauss waltz playing in the background.

[VxH]

>>The Veterans Home ain't finished yet,,,

Well, now that the chimps have armed themselves, Gorilla warfare can't be too far behind and Bonzo may require medical attention after action.

Surely this will speed things up.

[RunningWolf]

Oh that is great!! LMAO

'Hey, do I really have to go thru with this evolution thing? It looks like a lot more trouble than its worth, and some things don't seem to change.

How about a nice small warm atoll somewhere that has mangos coconuts, fish and fat termites, oh thats right i cant fish yet, oh well. One thing else, occasional tourism from the chimp girls gone wild boats.

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

Well, now that the chimps have armed themselves, Gorilla warfare can't be too far behind and Bonzo may require medical attention after action.

Surely this will speed things up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LOL,,,no doubt,,,I had to throw that post in for my brothers at the Overton Brooks VA hospital,,,
It's a Very sore-spot here with this congressman,,,
sorry if I was OT...

[VxH]

>>Spears discovered in chimps' toolbox

LOL funny.

[VxH]

>>sorry if I was OT...

No problem. You were right on target.

[RunningWolf]

Hey that is a fantastic analogy! Can I borrow it?

[RunningWolf]

Lets not turn that sentence around any ;)

[Dallas59]

2001 A Space Odd-isy

[Bender2]

Gad! That poor gal that used to dance in the gray sweats all the time on FNC...

How Britney has fallen!

Ditching rehab to shave her head and hang out with chimps...

Next thing ya know, she'll be dating a caveman!

[VxH]

[Next thing ya know, she'll be dating a caveman!]

 

Or Worse:

 

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

;0)

[expatguy]

Didn't she just shave her head?

[BigCinBigD]

"I am willing to bet the females do it even more than we have seen,"

I would put money on it.

[FastCoyote]

Now, wouldn't it be great if you had a picture of Britney Spears using Chimps to go with this article.

[N. Theknow]

Spears are latest discovery in chimps' toolbox

Spears?

?????????????????????

I thought she went into rehab.

[SoCal Pubbie]

Sure!

[SunkenCiv]

Just adding this to the GGG catalog, not sending a general distribution.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.

Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
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[Kitten Festival]

I thought this was about a certain bald Hollywood celebrity.

[TigersEye]

Maybe females invented weapons for hunting, Pruetz says. "The observation that individuals hunting with tools include females and immature chimpanzees suggests that we should rethink traditional explanations for the evolution of such behaviour in our own lineage," she concludes.

"Lots of people talk and few of them know,
Soul of a woman was created below."