It is interesting to me to think that this is how the evolution of humans started out with just a few primitive tools used for nutrition, grooming, intimidation, and defense. In a few million years, they could be evolved to our level. With that, where might we be at that point.

One of the most interesting aspects but less common of their tool use is their ability to defend themselves with clubs, missiles, or stones. Some use theses just as show but some really mean business. It has been observed that only savanna chimpanzees are capable of any really effectiveness and accuracy while forest chimps while poorly aimed attempts of throwing are only used for show.

It has been speculated that African apes are de

In a study of Zaire chimps, observers confronted them with large caged felines and a dummy stuffed leopard. When sticks and clubs were available, they would brandish clubs or throw the sticks at the potential attacking cats.

Interest lies in another use of tools in the daily life of some chimps. Cracking nuts adds a new dimension to their intellect it seems, multiple tool use. The use of “hammer and anvil” is a more advanced behavior then it seems. It employs a cooperation of tools.

Sex also plays an important role in dietary tool use. Seventy-five percent of females engage in dietary tool use whereas only forty-five percent of males use tools for dietary purposes. Females engage in slightly longer bouts of termite dipping on average then do males. They also engage in more ant dipping sessions that last for more then one hour.

At six months of age, the infant chimps are noticed reaching for twigs and leaves but are making no use of them, only mimicking their mothers. It is not until 8 months that they manipulate possible crude use but still do not use them. They don’t begin their termite dipping until they reach the age of 2. At 2 years of age, they select inappropriate tools and use them crudely and inefficiently. At three to four years of age, the novice termite fishers are improving but not yet as persistent as mature adults. It as at this age that they also develop into successful leaf spongers.

Several chimps in captivity were observed using sticks for oral hygiene. Infant chimps were observed using sticks as picks to clean out their noses. Other mature chimps used sticks as picks to clean out their teeth. The most interesting of these was a 9 year old female named Belle who became the regular dental hygienist for 4 other chimps. She employed her fingers as well as an assortment of handy wooden tools, one of which being a piece of red cedar denuded of leaves, used for picking foreign particles from the teeth. She even extracted a deciduous molar from the mouth of a patient supine male.

I think that one of the most important traits that all chimpanzees could catch onto would be the use of weaponry. It could also cause them to branch off between the chimps who had developed spears and clubs. Those brandishing spears and clubs could run the more primitive chimps out of their area. It would be a big step in their evolution as it could have been a large step in our evolution.

Some topics in this essay:
Tool Chimpanzees, Tiwai Island, Africa Probing, chimps observed, observed using, observed using sticks, using sticks, gombe chimps, chimps observed using, ant dipping, cracking nuts, sticks picks clean, mature chimps, gombe chimps observed, chimps observed cracking, picks clean, effectiveness accuracy, threw sticks,