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The chimpanzees of Ivory Coast's Taï National Park in western Africa are quite handy with a hammer stone. They use the large stones to expertly smash panda nuts and other food sources, chipping and flaking them in the process—a feat humans would be hard-pressed to mimic. After all, the stones are much larger than can easily be grasped by a human hand and require much more strength than the human arm can generate. Now archaeologist Julio Mercader of the University of Calgary and his team have found worn hammers and stone fragments over 4,000 years old that apparently were used by chimps.

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Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
 
Hardly surprising, is it? Humans and our ancestors used stone tools for literally millions of years, certainly a much longer period than anything approaching anatomically modern humans has existed. The real surprise would be if stone tools were a recent development for the chimps. In fact, come to think of it, stone use goes back so far it's probably older than the chimp-human common ancestor. So, um, duh.
 

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Posted by kmbboots (Member # 8576) on :
 
No wonder the poor pandas have such a difficult time breeding.
 

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Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 

 

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Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
 
KoM,

I tend to agree with your assumptions in regard to chimp tool use, but as the article indicates, there have been competing theories out there suggesting that chimps picked some of their skills up from observing humans. I think that's an unnecessarily complicated theory, myself.

To be honest, I mostly posted this because I really wanted write the title for this thread.
 

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Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
 

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No wonder the poor pandas have such a difficult time breeding.

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Indeed. When you factor in the probably reaction of the panda, it suggests that this could be one more factor in the declining populations of both species.
 

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Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
 
Darn it, Kate! You stole my joke!
 

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Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
 
Bonobos are better anyway.
 

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Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
 
But did they dress up their hammer stones in red and blue uniforms, paint big white teeth on them, and glue on fake white beards?

THAT is what separates us from rough beasts.
 

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Posted by erosomniac (Member # 6834) on :
 
For some reason, the phrase "the poor pandas" makes me giggle like a schoolgirl.
 

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Posted by camus (Member # 8052) on :
 

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They use the large stones to expertly smash panda nuts...chipping and flaking them in the process...the stones are much larger than can easily be grasped by a human hand and require much more strength than the human arm can generate.

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