Scientists found another similarity between chimpanzees and humans, this one a behavioral parallel.
According to Discovery News, authors of a study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science observed wild chimpanzees crafting and hunting with spears to catch and kill their prey.
"It's just another example of diversity in chimp behavior that we keep finding the longer we study wild chimps," study lead author Jull Pruetz, a professor of anthropology at Iowa State University, said in a press release. "It is more the exception than the rule that you'll find some sort of different behavior, even though we've studied chimps extensively.
"It's just another example of diversity in chimp behavior that we keep finding the longer we study wild chimps.
"It is more the exception than the rule that you'll find some sort of different behavior, even though we've studied chimps extensively."
The researchers found the chimps honed the spear tip so it would be as lethal as possible before sneaking up on their prey.
"The tools (spears) are made from living tree branches that are detached and then modified by removing all the side branches and leaves, as well as the flimsy terminal end of the branch," Pruetz told Discovery News. "Some individuals further trim the tip of the tool with their teeth.
"They average about 75 centimeters (around 30 inches) in length."
Travis Pickering, a biological anthropologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the use of spears may have once been a way to level out the playing field of hunting.
"Hunting large animals in groups is advantageous because of increased vigilance - more eyes - and the potential to recruit others for defense if one hunter gets into trouble," he told Discovery News. "Moreover, there's no getting around the fact that most males are bigger and stronger than are most females, and thrusting or throwing a spear into a big, thick-skinned antelope or zebra is going to require more power than stabbing a galago."
