Evidence of Tool Use among the Great Apes

Posted: January 4th, 2023

Student’s Name

Tutor’s Name

Course Title

Date

Evidence of Tool Use among the Great Apes

Introduction

The evolution of primates is a topic that attracts widespread attention and researchers across the globe are focusing on the area because of the intense desire to know the context and details of human evolution. Researchers pay considerable attention to factors such as the evolution or origin of the primates, their morphology, range, habitat, ecology, as well as other factors such as social behavior and organization, reproduction, parental care, communication and vocalization among other factors (Bjork et al. 2010). The study pays attention to the common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), which is referred to by other names such as robust chimpanzee and common chimpanzee among others (Lang 2006). Particularly, the study emphasizes on the use of tools by the chimpanzees, which may offer essential tips about the primate’s ecology and lifestyle. The apes try to modify tools, and however simple they may appear, they serve essential roles in aiding the acquisition of foods. The study elaborates how chimpanzees, compared to bonobo use tools such as sticks to get insects from their nests, hammers to break hard nuts, and chewed leaves to suck water from hard to reach areas, thus affirming that the apes use various tools for different purposes.

The use of tools by chimpanzee emanates from the fact that the animals live in a habitat where they must acquire different forms of foods. The food the chimpanzee consume, for instance, comprises chiefly of fruits, but they can eat other vegetations as well, while the remaining part of the chimpanzee’s dietary intake, include barks, plant piths, a variety of seeds and the stems of specific plants (Lang 2006). It appears that the animals are so much frugivores, and tend to consume fruits, even when the food type is not adequate. The chimpanzees take other foods to supplement their intake with honey, particular eggs, and some specific animals and insects being some of the favorite foodstuffs. The chimpanzees can also eat some small animals such as small warthogs and monkey among others (Lang 2006). Actually, the chimpanzees use, on average, nearly half of their days eating, and considerable time shifting from one location to the other searching for food, and it appears that the actual time used in feeding correlates with the time needed for processing the consumed food. It is the chimpanzees’ ecology that pushes the animals to use certain tools to ease the acquisition of the food items.

The utilization of tools by the chimpanzees has been witnessed across all types of chimpanzees, especially when it comes to getting food. The animals use common materials such as grass, small and medium-sized rocks and sticks, and use these get food items such as honey, water, nuts and certain insects (Lang 2006 and Roffman et al. 2016). While these appliances may appear too crude to be regarded as true tools, so much evidence indicates that some skills and thoughts are required to utilize them, and the absence of intricacy should not detract from the idea that the implements are still tools (Lang 2006). Chimpanzees, for example, utilize small sticks that do not have anything on them to retrieve honey from the hideouts and habitats of harmless bees. Chimpanzees, on the other hand, utilize considerably longer and thinner sticks to prevent the hurting stings of the violent African honeybees (Lang 2006). In a similar way, the apes remove the leaves of long, thin sticks and utilize these to get ands from underground nests. National Geographic (2020) also shares the same view that the primates (chimpanzees) create and make use of sticks to acquire insects from their hideouts or get grubs from logs. Lang (2006) informs that the act needs some amount of skills and young chimpanzees must engage in so much practice before gaining the necessary skills required getting the insects and still holding to the thin and flexible tools. The art requires so much learning such that some chimpanzees never fully learn the practice of ant dipping, and overall, females are more prosperous than males in this skill. A similar technique is utilized to draw insects from underground and tree nests at Gombe forest, but the chimpanzees at Tai forest directly utilize their hands to get termites.  

The utilization of tools to do different functions is more apparent among the chimpanzees in the West of Africa where the apes use simple hammers made from collected branches to shell nuts. Typically, the objects are not are not scattered to near each other or close to the nuts, which require the apes to carefully select the materials that would allow them break the nuts that are rich in proteins and fats (Lang 2006). The report by National Geographic (2020) also informs that the chimpanzees utilize stones to break open delicious nuts. Like retrieving ants from their habitats, the act of cracking nuts requires considerable skills and younger chimpanzees must acquire essential tips from their mothers first before mastering the activity. Further reviews reveal that chimpanzees make use of leaves to absorb drinking water after cautiously choosing the leaves that would perform the function effectively. Sometimes, the chimpanzees would first chew the leaves before submerging them on water to suck water and then consume it and again repeat the process (Lang 2006). The chimpanzees usually apply the technique in places where the availability of water is scarce, especially during particular times of the year, and it is so hidden in tree holes that the apes cannot easily reach it with their mouths.

Importance of Research

The evidence that chimpanzees use various tools for different reasons creates the urge to perform more studies to acquire more insight into how the apes use even other tools. Researchers should not relent in their roles of learning the animals and reporting their behaviors to acquire more awareness about the animal’s behaviors. More studies and research are necessary because together with bonobos, they are the closest living creatures to humans, sharing at least 98% of the genetic blueprint (National Geographic 2020). Researchers also believe that human beings and chimpanzees share a similar ancestor that lived about 7 to 13 million years ago (National Geographic 2020). In addition, chimpanzees are so much social and tend to live in communities of several tens of animals, headed by a dominant male who is assisted by other males (Lang a 2006). The great similarities between humans and chimps shows the importance of conducting more research on the animals, to understand better how they use tools, and to familiarize with their other behaviors that may be of particular interest to human beings. Also important, the great resemblance between the chimps and human beings calls for more conservation efforts by creating and implementing effective policies. The U.S., for example, has enacted the U.S. Endangered Species Act to protect the sanctuaries and reserves where these animals live, but various conservation organizations need to come together to strengthen the protection of the habitats and advocate for an end to the illicit killing and taking away of the animals or their parts (National Geographic 2020). Key to protecting the future of the chimpanzee to allow for more opportunity to study them is advancing their relationship with humans (Binczik et al. 2019). Otherwise, exposing the animals to so much threat and putting little effort to conserve their habitats may diminish the chances to study the species and acquire more information regarding the use of different tools.

Conclusion

The ecology of the chimpanzees, which compel them to seek for food from various sources, requires the animals to devise and use tools that make it possible to get the necessary foods. The study elaborates how chimpanzees modify sticks to get honey and insects from specific places, and how they use hammers to break hard nuts. Chimpanzees demonstrate their ability to use leaves as sponges and spoons to get water from areas that they cannot reach directly with their mouth. The study shows that the younger chimpanzees must first learn the tricks and gain the necessary skills before engaging in ant dipping and nut breaking because such practices require some level of training. The report calls for more analysis of the animals to understand more things about them, especially with regard to the use of different tools because as it appears, the chimps have great similarity with human beings, and even share a common ancestor that existed millions of years ago.

Bibliography

Binczik, A et al.

2019 Conservation of Chimpanzees Pan troglodytes Verus and Other Primates Depends on Forest Patches in a West African Savannah Landscape. Oryx 53(4):774-781. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605317001090

Bjork, A et al.

2010 Evolutionary History of Chimpanzees Inferred from Complete Mitochondrial Genome. Molecular Biology Evolution 28(1):615-623. doi:10.1093/molbev/msq227

Lang, K

2006 Primate Factsheets: Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) Taxonomy, Morphology, & Ecology. http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/factsheets/entry/chimpanzee accessed May 1, 2020. 

Lang, K a

2006 Primate Factsheets: Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) Behavior. http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/factsheets/entry/chimpanzee/behav accessed May 1, 2020. 

National Geographic

2020 Chimpanzee. National Geographic 2020. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/c/chimpanzee/ accessed May 1, 2020. 

Roffman, I et al.

2016 Cultural and Physical Characteristics of NearArid Savanna Chimpanzees in Mali. Human Evolution 31(4): 191-214. doi: 10.14673/HE201641022