Is this breaking news: Chimps hunt using spears?
What’s this? Chimps hunt using spears?
That’s what the authors, Jill Pruetz and Paco Bertolani, are reporting in a yet to be published paper in the journal Current Biology.
Since we don’t have the primary source, I’m relying on a news article published by the BBC News 
to share this with you. Here’s all I got so far:
“Chimpanzees in Senegal have been observed making and using wooden spears to hunt other primates… Researchers documented 22 cases of chimps fashioning tools to jab at smaller primates sheltering in cavities of hollow branches or tree trunks…. Chimps had not been previously observed hunting other animals with tools.”
This is an important finding, right on the coat tails of the report on the 4,300 year old stone tools used by chimps. I don’t know yet if this is a case where chimps fashioned spears or just selected for sticks that are effective spears (like the best stones that will be good anvils and hammers), but at the very minimum it expands our knowledge base on tool usage in non-human primates.
You can expect me to keep a diligent eye open for this publication. I’ll do my best to read it as soon as I get my grubby hands on it.
LiveScience [1] is reporting this too, and the paper’s available as “in press” via ScienceDirect. The abstract is:
–Simon
[1] http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/070222_chimp_hunters.html
Simon Greenhill
February 22, 2007 at 1:38 pm
They’re fashioning spears through a quite sophisticated, multistep technique that involves sharpening with the teeth.
Here’s my write up of the findings, which is based on the advanced PDF available for those with a subscription (I have one through my university) to Current Biology.
MatildaZQ
February 22, 2007 at 6:05 pm
[...] Links Is this breaking news: Chimps hunt using spears? [...]
Savanna Chimpanzees Hunt with Tools « Primatology.org
February 22, 2007 at 8:25 pm
Hey, I dont know if this will work, but you may be able to get the actual publication at this address below. Good luck!
Greg
February 25, 2007 at 11:52 am
Greg, we don’t see a link. But that’s okay because I we already tracked down the publication. Thanks for keeping an eye out for us though.
Kambiz
February 26, 2007 at 10:05 pm
[...] it looks like Christopher Mims is just as unsurprised as I have been about the news of the chimps using spears to hunt. He outlines why, in the form of what we already [...]
One more word on, and a video of, chimps hunting with spears « Primatology.org
March 7, 2007 at 11:51 am
[...] with spears. Jill Pruetz actually was the one to see this behavior and I covered this news last year. I was a bit skeptical, but it seems like Lanting and Pruetz were able to observe this behavior [...]
Frans Lanting on the Fongoli Spear Hunting Chimps « Primatology.net
April 3, 2008 at 2:18 pm