Planet of the Apes 2007! Weapons Factory Discovered! Chimps with Deadly Spears!

[mandy]

Chimpanzees living in the West African savannah have been observed fashioning deadly spears from sticks and using the tools to hunt small mammals -- the first routine production of deadly weapons ever observed in animals other than humans.

The multistep spearmaking practice, documented by researchers in Senegal who spent years gaining the chimpanzees' trust, adds credence to the idea that human forebears fashioned similar tools millions of years ago.

The landmark observation also supports the long-debated proposition that females -- the main makers and users of spears among the Senegalese chimps -- tend to be the innovators and creative problem solvers in primate culture...

full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...01007.html

[FiberGuy]

Holy crap!

When they throw their poo at me at the zoo, remind me not to throw it back at them anymore...

[BellisimaJ.]

[quote author=FiberGuy link=topic=7869.msg44868#msg44868 date=1172243383]


Holy crap!

When they throw their poo at me at the zoo, remind me not to throw it back at them anymore...



[/quote]

The landmark observation also supports the long-debated proposition that females -- the main makers and users of spears among the Senegalese chimps -- tend to be the innovators and creative problem solvers in primate culture.

Hey, we knew that!

[bargainbloodhound]

"It was really alarming how forceful it was," said lead researcher Jill D. Pruetz of Iowa State University, adding that it reminded her of the murderous shower scene in the Alfred Hitchcock movie "Psycho." "It was kind of scary."