"Chimpanzee material culture has a long prehistory whose deep roots are only beginning to be uncovered," the authors write.Īlthough it's difficult to prove whether the technology was adopted through imitation, another possibility is convergence - that is, both humans and great apes arrived at the technique independently. The discovery suggests that a 'chimpanzee stone age' reaches well back to ancient times. And the idea is to crack the shell but not smash it - it's not a simple technique." "Some of the nuts require a compression force of more than a thousand kilograms to crack. "We know that modern chimpanzee behaviour regarding nut-cracking is socially transmitted and takes up to seven years to learn," Mercader says. Using so-called "percussive technology" to free the edible parts of nuts is more complicated than it sounds. The stones are too large for humans to use easily and they also have the starch residue from several nuts known to be staples in the chimpanzee diet, but not the human diet. The research demonstrates conclusively that the artifacts couldn't have been the result of natural erosion or used by humans. The stone hammers that the team discovered, essentially irregularly shaped rocks about the size of cantaloupes - with distinctive patterns of wear - were used to crack the shells of nuts. "There weren't any farmers living in this region 4,300 years ago, so it is unlikely that chimpanzees picked it up by imitating villagers, like some scientists used to claim." "It's not clear whether we hominins invented this kind of stone technology, or whether both humans and the great apes inherited it from a common forebear," says Mercader, also a Canada Research Chair in Tropical Archaeology. PNAS is in the top echelon of academic journals internationally. and Canada report on the findings in the latest edition of PNAS, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Mercader and co-investigators from Germany, UK, the U.S. Julio Mercader, one of the few archaeologists in the world who studies the material culture of great apes, especially chimpanzees, uncovered stone 'hammers' last year in the Taï rainforest of Africa's Côte D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) that date back 4,300 years. They are highly intelligent, social, and agile, making them a great addition to any zoo.Dr. They are also given a variety of foods to keep them healthy and active.Ĭhimpanzees are an amazing zoo animal that can provide hours of entertainment and education. They are provided with plenty of enrichment activities, such as puzzles, swings, and climbing structures, to keep them entertained. In zoos, chimpanzees are kept in large enclosures that are designed to mimic their natural habitat. They are active during the day, spending most of their time foraging for food, playing, and socializing. They are mainly found in the tropical rainforests of Africa, but can also be found in savannas and woodlands. They are also incredibly intelligent, using tools to forage for food and even creating weapons to hunt.Ĭhimpanzees are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and animals. They communicate with each other using a range of vocalizations, facial expressions, and body language. They are the closest living relatives to humans, sharing 98.7% of our DNA, and are known for their playful and curious nature.Ĭhimpanzees are incredibly social animals, living in large groups and forming strong bonds with their family and friends. The Chimpanzee is a highly intelligent, social, and agile zoo animal that is native to the forests of Africa.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |