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Chimps Make Spears and Hunt

Bushbabies
by Charles Q. Choi, Live Science Contributor | February 22, 2007 07:00am ET
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Chimpanzees are capable of making spears to hunt other primates and

have been seen using the weapons to apparently kill bushbabies for
meat, scientists announced today.
meat, scientists announced today.
From Around the Web
The researchers based their findings on observations of omnivorous
chimps [image] that dwell in savannahs similar to those from which Danica Exposed - The Photos
humanity's ancestors are thought to have emerged. She Never Wanted You to See
"It is not adult males, but young chimpanzees, including adolescent

females, who are exhibiting this behavior," Jill Pruetz, a primatologist at 3 Foods Surgeons Are Now
Iowa State University, told LiveScience. Calling "Death Foods"
"This has important implications for how we

The Prey
think about the evolution of tool use in our
own species," Pruetz added. "We have
tended to emphasize the role of adult males
in hunting, and this research supports the
assertion that we should not ignore females
and other individuals."
Earlier this month, scientists reported that

chimpanzees used stone tools as early as
4,300 years ago, suggesting that they
learned to make and use the tools on their Bushbabies are
learned to make and use the tools on their Bushbabies are
own, rather than copying humans. nocturnal primates
that range from the
Video: Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees
size of chipmunks to
An unexpected finding opossums, They sleep
inside hollow branches
The scientists investigated the Fongoli or tree trunks during
community of savannah-dwelling the day and are known
chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) [image] for their leaping ability,
in southeastern Senegal. The researchers not to mention being
saw 10 different chimps fashioning spear-like really cute.
tools to forcibly jab at nocturnal primates
known as lesser bushbabies (Galago Image: David Haring via
senegalensis), which sleep inside hollow Duke University
branches or tree trunks during the day. After
their attacks, the chimps sniffed or licked their weapons, as if to see
whether or not they shed blood.
"I was flabbergasted," Pruetz said.
Previously, researchers had spotted one chimpanzee using tools to

flush out mammalian prey, specifically employing a branch to rouse a
squirrel. However, Pruetz and her colleague, Cambridge biological
anthropologist Paco Bertolani, saw something far more complex. The
chimps routinely broke off branches, trimmed them of twigs, leaves
and bark and sharpened the tips of their spears with their teeth.
There was just one successful attempt in 22 recorded instances of the

chimpanzee hunts with their spears. "Still, this involves significantly less
energy than in chasing down monkeys, so it is not surprising that it
evolved," Pruetz said.
The red colobus monkeys that are the

More Monkey Business
chimp's favored prey are absent in the
Even Monkeys Can Be
chimp's favored prey are absent in the
relatively dry savannahs where the Even Monkeys Can Be
chimps live, as is much prey, Pruetz said. Meteorologists
This may have spurred efforts to catch
Monkeys Use 'Code
meat by other means. Females and
Words' to Warn of
juveniles may especially be drawn to
Predators
hunting "perhaps to exploit niches that
adult males haven't, using innovation and Moral Debate: Procedure
creativity to get around competition," Risks Making Monkeys
Pruetz said. More Humanlike
Intense field work Like Humans, Chimps Bow

to Social Pressure
It took four years for the chimpanzees
[image] to become comfortable enough Male Chimps Prefer Older
with the scientists to allow them to follow Females
the chimps around and observe
behaviors such as hunting. Monkeys Pay to See
Female Monkey Bottoms
"The greatest difficulty initially was finding
them," Pruetz recalled. Unlike
chimpanzees that dwell in tropical forests, whose home ranges are
usually just roughly four square miles large, savannah-dwelling
chimpanzee home ranges are 25 square miles in size or more.
"Nowadays, we basically stay with them all day until they go to sleep,
and we come back before they wake up, to never let them out of our
sight," Pruetz said. "It can take 30 minutes to two hours to walk back to
camp after they go to sleep around 6 or 7 p.m., and we have to be back
when they wake up around 6 a.m., so it can be exhausting. We're
looking into getting a motorcycle."
Perhaps the greatest obstacle to the research, Pruetz said, is the

growing human population in the area, "which threatens to disturb the
chimpanzees' habitat and may eventually result in either forcing them
chimpanzees' habitat and may eventually result in either forcing them
from the area or into extinction."
Pruetz and Bertolani detailed their findings online Feb. 22 in the journal
Current Biology.
Top 10 Missing Links

Amazing Animal Abilities
Images: Endangered and Threatened Wildlife
When Chimps and Humans Split
All About Monkeys
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Author Bio
Charles Q. Choi
Charles Q. Choi is a contributing writer for Live Science and Space.com. He
covers all things human origins and astronomy as well as physics, animals
and general science topics. Charles has a Master of Arts degree from the
University of Missouri-Columbia, School of Journalism and a Bachelor of Arts
degree from the University of South Florida. Charles has visited every
continent on Earth, drinking rancid yak butter tea in Lhasa, snorkeling with
sea lions in the Galapagos and even climbing an iceberg in Antarctica.
Charles Q. Choi on
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Chimps Make Spears and Hunt

In Photos: Searching for

World's Thinnest Light

Real-Life 'Jurassic World'

Chimpanzees are capable of making spears to hunt other primates and

"It is not adult males, but young chimpanzees, including adolescent

"This has important implications for how we

Earlier this month, scientists reported that

"I was flabbergasted," Pruetz said.

Previously, researchers had spotted one chimpanzee using tools to

There was just one successful attempt in 22 recorded instances of the

The red colobus monkeys that are the

Intense field work Like Humans, Chimps Bow

Perhaps the greatest obstacle to the research, Pruetz said, is the

Top 10 Missing Links

Facebook Comments Plugin

About the Site Tom’s Guide

Licensing & Reprints BusinessNewsDaily

Copyright Policy Tom’s IT Pro

Privacy Policy LiveScience

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