The savanna chimps at Fongoli are the only non-human population to consistently hunt prey with tools. “What would often happen is the male would be in the vicinity of another chimp hunting with a tool, often a female, and the bush baby was able to escape the female and the male grabbed the bush baby as it fled,” Pruetz says.
She added that one explanation for the sex difference in tool use is that male chimps tended to be more opportunistic. Pruetz says the chimps used a spear-like tool to jab at the animal hiding in tree cavities. “It is more the exception than the rule that you’ll find some sort of different behavior, even though we’ve studied chimps extensively.”īoth male and female chimps primarily pursued galagos, or bush babies, in tool-assisted hunts.
“It’s just another example of diversity in chimp behavior that we keep finding the longer we study wild chimps,” Pruetz says. While males made up about 60 percent of the hunting group, only around 40 percent of the hunts were by males. Researchers observed both male and female chimps using tools, but more than half of the hunts-175 compared to 130-were by females. Generally, adult male chimps are the main hunters and capture prey by hand. Their results, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, support the initial findings-female chimps hunt with tools more than males do. Since then, Pruetz and her research team have documented more than 300 tool-assisted hunts. The finding attracted criticism because of the small sample size, but the anthropology professor was motivated to learn more. That was big news, but what also stood out to Pruetz was that female chimps were the ones predominantly hunting with tools. However, this is generally lighter in younger chimpanzees and it gets darker as they get older.In 2007, Jill Pruetz first reported savanna chimps at her research site in Fongoli, Senegal, were using tools to hunt prey.
#Female chimpanzee skin#
The exposed skin of the chimp’s face, hands, and feet varies from pink to very dark. Their faces, fingers, palms and soles are all hairless. The animals have long fingers folded underneath when walking to stop the nails from getting blunt. Toes and FingersĬhimp toes are almost as long as their fingers and they have an opposable big toe for easier gripping. They must use their muscles whether they are standing or on all fours. Chimpanzees usually walk on all fours and they cannot lock their knees. The bonobo chimpanzee is a bit shorter and thinner than the common chimp, but it has longer limbs. The common chimpanzee has long arms which, when extended, can span 1.5 times the body’s height. LimbsĪ male chimp can stand up to 5.5 feet. On the other hand, the human brain has been measured as being three times larger. The brain of the chimpanzee has been measured at about 337 cc with a general range of between 282 and 500 cc. Chimpanzees have powerful canines used for killing their prey and for fighting their rival chimpanzees. A thick bone protects the eyes and extends above the relatively small braincase. Their jaws are larger and much more powerful compared to that of a human. Head and SkullĬhimpanzees have a protruding face. Although there are a variety of similarities between humans and chimpanzees, there are also many differences. This means that they have some similar physical characteristics as humans.
A chimpanzee is one of our closest living relatives.
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