2023-11-16 05:00:10
Deep in the African rainforest, researchers recently discovered surprising and complex behavior in western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus). This study, published on November 2 in the scientific journal PLOS Biology, reveals that these primates (Les primates (from the Latin primas, atis meaning “the one who occupies first…) use surveillance tactics similar to those of human military reconnaissance operations, a first in the animal kingdom (An animal (from the Latin animus, spirit, or vital principle) is , according to the classic classification, a…) non-human.
Chimpanzees, known to live in communities competing for space and resources, typically engage in coordinated aggressive behavior. What sets this new behavior apart is their strategic use of elevated terrain. According to Sylvain Lemoine, assistant professor of biological anthropology at the University of Cambridge and lead author of the study, this tactic allows them to reflect on their own knowledge and act on what they do not know to gain more insight. information.
This discovery comes from the observation of two communities of chimpanzees in the Taï National Park, in Côte d’Ivoire, monitored by the Project. The term chimpanzee today designates two species of great apes which form the…) of Taï. Between 2013 and 2016, the research team followed these chimpanzees for 8 to 12 hours (The hour is a unit of measurement:) per day, collecting GPS and behavioral data. It turned out that chimpanzees climbed hills more frequently when they went to the borders of their territory rather than to the center. On these heights, they rested in silence, avoiding activities that could have hindered their ability to listen (On a sailboat, a sheet is a rope used to adjust the angle of the sail in relation to…).
The data showed that chimpanzees were more likely to advance from these high points toward contested territory when their rivals were far away, suggesting that they used the hills to avoid conflict. However, they could also use them to find an opportunity to attack. Sylvain Lemoine emphasizes that during meetings between members of two communities, the balance of power — number (The notion of number in linguistics is covered in the article “Number…) on each side — is an important factor in escalation violence. Chimpanzees therefore seem capable of evaluating the cost and benefits of a commitment, and the hills help them in this task.
Credit: Roman M. Wittig/ Taï Chimpanzee Project
Sylvain Lemoine assumes that other chimpanzee communities also use this tactic, depending on the terrain. He also mentions that the complex cognitive abilities helping chimpanzees expand their territory may have been favored by natural selection, suggesting that these warfare tactics are rooted in evolution. “We may be seeing traces of small-scale proto-warfare that probably existed in prehistoric hunter-gatherer populations,” he said. he declared.
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#chimpanzees #military #strategies #humans