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

Quote :

"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. Senegal chimp Image: Iowa State University Adolescent females exhibited the behaviour most frequently (Image: M Gaspersic) 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. "

2/23/2007 12:45:54 AM

link to video, now

2/23/2007 12:52:27 AM

They probably got the chimps and the natives confused.

2/23/2007 1:19:22 AM

2/23/2007 1:23:11 AM

It's just a matter of time before they take over!

2/23/2007 3:06:21 AM

2/23/2007 7:44:40 AM

SWEET!

That's so cool.

Let's kill them off before they become a threat. !!!

2/23/2007 10:11:26 AM

We have confirmed reports that the chimpanzees in subsaharan africa are currently developing weapons of mass destruction. They are a clear threat to world peace and must be stopped.

2/23/2007 10:14:42 AM

When God hears about this, he's gonna be pissed.

2/23/2007 10:44:25 AM

I heard they have ties to Al-Qaeda.

2/23/2007 10:59:38 AM

they are also covering the spears in their HIV tainted blood. GERM WARFARE!!!!

2/23/2007 11:10:36 AM

USAF Stealth Bomber: serving al-Qaeda and the militant simian community since 1997.

2/23/2007 11:49:10 AM

Well, we should prepare to fight off the chimps. Is fighting off chimps anything like fighting off zombies?

2/23/2007 1:14:52 PM

Quote :

""

2/23/2007 2:33:53 PM

So far it looks as if they're only doing this to attack creatures inside trees. Once they figure out spears are more generally useful, then we'll be in trouble.

2/23/2007 2:38:00 PM

YOU GON' GET POKED

2/23/2007 3:17:14 PM

there's no such thing as hunting, rather what they're doing is called "intelligent stabbing"

2/23/2007 3:57:21 PM

POKE ME ONCE. . .WON'T GET POKED AGAIN!

2/23/2007 9:26:14 PM

Maybe we should pre-emptively poke them just incase and then say it was a preventive poking.

2/23/2007 10:03:08 PM

They may enjoy their spears now, but eventually they will find bigger sticks to make bigger spears until one day they have made a spear big enough to destroy them all.

2/23/2007 10:05:00 PM

They're gonna make themselves a MOAS. Mother Of All Spears.

[Edited on February 24, 2007 at 1:04 AM. Reason : Spears, not spheres... wtf]

2/24/2007 1:04:20 AM

You shouldn't hang me on a hook, Johnny. My father hung me on a hook once. Once!

2/24/2007 1:43:43 AM

one of them is going to kill a human

then its going to be crazy

2/24/2007 3:14:23 AM

Scary, but it could be worse:

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28315

2/24/2007 3:37:07 AM

Well dolphins already enjoy sex and now that they have thumbs we (humans) are toast.

[Edited on February 24, 2007 at 6:53 AM. Reason : .]

2/24/2007 6:52:46 AM

Doesn't a stick have to have a tip on it to be called a spear?

2/24/2007 11:10:02 AM

no

it just needs a sharp point

2/24/2007 7:31:50 PM

lol @ spear chuckers

2/24/2007 9:19:37 PM