Editor-DN
Washington:
“Planet of the Apes” must have been on something.
According to a new study published Thursday in Science, chimpanzees are constantly honing their tool-using skills — a process that has been evident for thousands of years, as ideas are exchanged between populations through migration. runs from
The finding of chimps — humans’ closest living relative — has relevance for us as well, as it supports the idea that deep in time, our own ape ancestors used social interactions to improve their technologies. took advantage of, said lead author Cassandra Gunnasecram. AFP.
Scientists have long marveled at chimps’ ability to pass complex behaviors, such as tool use, from one generation to the next.
Yet while human civilization has leapt from the Stone Age to the Space Age, chimpanzee “culture”—defined as socially learned behavior—seems to be static.
Ganasekaram, a doctoral student at the University of Zurich, set out to challenge this assumption.
Communication breeds innovation.
He and colleagues combined genetic data tracing ancient chimpanzee migrations across Africa to observe 15 distinct foraging behaviors in dozens of populations and four subspecies.
These behaviors were classified into three levels: those requiring no tools, those using simple tools, such as chewed leaves as sponges to absorb water from tree holes, and The most complex, involving toolsets.
A classic example of toolset use comes from the Congo, where chimps use a strong stick to tunnel into the ground to reach a termite nest, then poke it into the brush to “fish” for termites in the tunnel. They change the stem of plants by chewing the tips. They have made.
Research has found that advanced tool use is strongly associated with populations connected through genetic exchange over the past 5,000-15,000 years, suggesting that such behaviors spread when groups interacted. do
Areas where the three subspecies overlap exhibit highly complex tool use, highlighting how cross-group connections foster cultural knowledge.
In contrast, simpler practices, such as foraging without tools, appear to be less linked to migration and have evolved independently in different regions.
Forage effectively
Ganasekaram said that this mirrors how commercial ideas and increased innovation have been important to human technological progress, taking us from primitive times to modern smartphones.
“They have become so complex that a single person cannot recreate them from scratch,” he said.
But unlike humans, chimps have few opportunities to encounter new people and ideas — migration is gradual, with sexually mature females moving to new communities to avoid predation.
Analyzing ancient genetic drift helped the team overcome one of the biggest challenges in studying the evolution of chimpanzee culture: the limited window of observation, since the species has only been scientifically studied for about a century. .
Moreover, “chimpanzee tools are made of sticks and stems, all of which perish,” explained Gunasakram, making it nearly impossible to determine how their artifacts evolved over time. are
So, will chimps one day rival human intelligence? Hardly. But given enough time, they can become more efficient foragers.
For example, some populations are already more advanced in cracking nuts with stone hammers and anvils, and one particularly innovative group even invented a stabilizer for the anvil, the Gunasacrum. said
(Other than the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
