One chimpanzee excavates with tool while another observes Parandis Majlesi (Center for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, University of Oslo, Norway)
Chimps have spontaneously figured out how to use a stick to mash a potato. The finding could prompt a rethink of how tool use develops in primate societies.
Wild chimpanzees in Guinea climb palm trees to eat the trees’ “hearts”, which look like white asparagus. They use sticks to mash the hearts before eating them, like cooks using pestles and mortars. Chimps elsewhere don’t do this, suggesting that the behaviour is cultural and that Guinea chimps pick it up by copying each other.
However, Claudio Tennie of the University of Tübingen in Germany is sceptical about copying. Many studies have demonstrated…
