Green Group discussion
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Chimpanzees
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Mod
"Approximately 60 years ago, primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall found evidence of termite fishing in wild chimpanzees. It was the first example ever recorded of tool use by a species other than human. Termite fishing by chimpanzees involves breaking a twig off of a tree, removing its leaves and then poking it into a nest to collect ants to eat—ants are an important source of protein. In this new effort, the researchers have found that chimps living in different communities have developed slightly different approaches to termite fishing—an example of cultural diversity."
https://phys.org/news/2020-05-termite...
Looks to me as though when one chimp found a technique that worked all the other local chimps copied it and did not bother thinking up new ideas. Could be that creativity is extremely low or rare in these animals. Maybe creativity was the difference in the hominids, rather than language.
Mod
"Chimpanzees have whole sets of tools to probe termite mounds, extracting the termite "soldiers" and feasting on these rich sources of protein. Different chimp groups also have different termite-fishing techniques. Some chimpanzees we've encountered may even plan ahead and prepare tools before they arrive at mounds, showing the kind of forward planning that was once thought to be uniquely human."
"New technologies such as camera traps, acoustic sensors, and drones are helping make this process easier. And on our most recent field trip we explored a less typical, more creative way to study them, turning to DNA techniques to try to find evidence of chimpanzee behaviour without actually seeing or disturbing the animals."
https://phys.org/news/2018-01-chimp-d...
In the Shadow of Man
Jane Goodall
Mod
https://phys.org/news/2020-10-howd-pi...
More information: A.G. Rosati at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI el al., "Social selectivity in aging wild chimpanzees," Science (2020). science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi … 1126/science.aaz9129
"The upside of aging," Science (2020). science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi … 1126/science.abe9110
Journal information: Science
Provided by Harvard University
Mod
Here's the first time scientists have recorded chimps attacking gorilla bands, and they did it twice.
Speculation is that lack of living space or competition over preferred ripening fruits caused the attacks.
Deforestation, human encroachment and climate change are possible contributors to the situation.
Gizmodo has many comments on this theme under the article, some more stories, some strong language.
https://gizmodo.com/for-the-first-tim...
Surprisingly I don't see this story in the Phys.org listing for today.
Mod
"Researchers analyzed tactical movements in the half an hour after a stop longer than five minutes on a hill near the border, and compared it to movements after stops in low-lying border areas.
Following a hilltop recce, the likelihood of advancing into enemy territory increased from 40% when rivals were 500 meters away, to 50% when rivals were at 1000m, to 60% when rivals were at 3000m.
"Chimpanzees often expand their territory by encroaching and patrolling in that of their neighbors. Hilltop information-gathering will help them to do this while reducing risks of encountering any enemies," said Lemoine. "The border zone between the two groups was in a state of flux.""
More information: Sylvain Lemoine et al, Chimpanzees make tactical use of high elevation in territorial contexts, PLoS Biology (2023). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002350. journals.plos.org/plosbiology/ … journal.pbio.3002350
Journal information: PLoS Biology
Provided by University of Cambridge
Mod
https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2024/...
"The longest-standing resident at Dublin Zoo, and the oldest living chimp in human care, has died.
The zoo revealed that it had "said goodbye to Betty, our 62-year-old chimpanzee"."
Mod
"An international team of paleobiologists, anthropologists and behavioral scientists has found that the process used by modern chimps to select tools for cracking nuts may be similar to how ancient human ancestors chose their tools. In their paper published in the Journal of Human Evolution, the group describes the way chimpanzees choose rocks to use as tools for cracking nuts, and how they compared what they found with prior research regarding how ancient human ancestors chose tools for various purposes."
More information: D.R. Braun et al, Stone selection by wild chimpanzees shares patterns with Oldowan hominins, Journal of Human Evolution (2024).
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...
Journal information: Journal of Human Evolution
Mod
https://phys.org/news/2026-02-apes-pl...
"In a series of tea party-like experiments, Johns Hopkins University researchers demonstrate for the first time that apes can use their imagination and play pretend, an ability thought to be uniquely human.
Consistently and robustly across three experiments, one bonobo engaged with cups of imaginary juice and bowls of pretend grapes, challenging long-held assumptions about the abilities of animals.
The findings suggest that the capacity to understand pretend objects is within the cognitive potential of, at least, an enculturated ape, and likely dates back 6 to 9 million years, to our common evolutionary ancestors."
Publication details
Amalia P. M. Bastos, Evidence for representation of pretend objects by Kanzi, a language trained bonobo, Science (2026).
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/s...
Journal information: Science
The study authors sound respectful of chimps and call them our cousins, and while chimps in captivity were studied as well as wild populations, no chimps seem to have been harmed.
https://phys.org/news/2020-05-chimpan...