They are not mourning, they are just plain curious, wondering why the guy is carried away that way. They are curious when they see thru a window that there's a new chimp on the block, they are curious when they see one of the guys leaving for a needle or for a surgery, and here they are curious about what's up with the guy. You can take awesome pictures of dogs and cats and who knows what and pretend deep and human-like emotions are present, whereas reality is the animals are just hungry or tired or horny. I'm sure some animals can feel sorrow, like elephants seem to do according to the reports from the Tennessee habitat and elsewhere - but chimps seem to be just noisy and mean guys. Orangutans on the other hand are the more philosophical guys.
Chimpanzees mourn at burial of elderly relative . . . .
by nicolaou 33 Replies latest social current
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nelly136
they're whispering to each other.......''if i doze off tonight wake me up before them humans get the shovels out!''
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frankiespeakin
I think Chimps are vary intelligent the big difference is that we humans are teachers both to our young and one another and so are intelligence has been more accumulative and passed on where as the chimps don't teach their young they mainly learn through imitations and not instructions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimpanzee
Anatomical differences between the Common Chimpanzee and the Bonobo are slight, but in sexual and social behaviour there are marked differences. The Common Chimpanzee has an omnivorousdiet, a troop hunting culture based on beta males led by an alpha male, and highly complex social relationships.
The Bonobo, on the other hand, has a mostly frugivorous diet and an egalitarian, nonviolent, matriarchal, sexually receptive behaviour. [ 10 ] Bonobos are well known to have frequent sex, with bisexuality the norm for both males and females, and also to use sex to help prevent and resolve conflicts. Different groups of chimpanzees also have different cultural behaviour with preferences for types of tools. [ 11 ]
The Common Chimpanzee tends to display higher levels of aggression than the Bonobo. [ 12 ]
[edit] Intelligence
Chimpanzees make tools and use them to acquire foods and for social displays; they have sophisticated hunting strategies requiring cooperation, influence and rank; they are status conscious, manipulative and capable of deception; they can learn to use symbols and understand aspects of human language including some relational syntax, concepts of number and numerical sequence; [ 13 ] and they are capable of spontaneous planning for a future state or event. [ 14 ]
[edit] Tool use
One of the most significant discoveries was in October 1960 when Jane Goodall observed the use of tools among chimpanzees. Recent research indicates that chimpanzee stone tool use dates to at least 4300 years ago. [ 15 ] A recent study revealed the use of such advanced tools as spears, which Common Chimpanzees in Senegal sharpen with their teeth, being used to spear Senegal Bushbabies out of small holes in trees. [ 16 ] [ 17 ] Before the discovery of tool use in chimps, it was believed that humans were the only species to make and use tools, but several other tool-using species are now known. [ 18 ] [ 19 ]
[edit] Empathy
Chimpanzee mother and baby Recent studies have shown that chimpanzees engage in apparently altruistic behaviour within groups, [ 20 ] [ 21 ] but are indifferent to the welfare of unrelated group members. [ 22 ]
Evidence for "chimpanzee spirituality" includes display of mourning, "incipient romantic love", "rain dance", appreciation of natural beauty such as a sunset over a lake, curiosity and respect towards wildlife (such as the python, which is neither a threat nor a food source to chimpanzees), empathy toward other species (such as feeding turtles) and even "animism" or "pretend play" in chimps cradling and grooming rocks or sticks. [ 23 ]
[edit] Communication
Chimps communicate in a manner similar to human non-verbal communication, using vocalizations, hand gestures, and facial expressions. Research into the chimpanzee brain has revealed that chimp communication activates an area of the chimp brain that is in the same position as Broca's area, the language center in the human brain. [ 24 ]
[edit] Studies of language
Main article: Great ape language Side profile of a Chimpanzee Scientists have long been fascinated with the studies of language, believing it to be a unique human cognitive ability. To test this hypothesis, scientists have attempted to teach human language to several species of great apes. One early attempt by Allen and Beatrice Gardner in the 1960s involved spending 51 months teaching American Sign Language to a chimpanzee named Washoe. The Gardners reported that Washoe learned 151 signs, and that he had spontaneously taught them to other chimpanzees. [ 25 ] Over a longer period of time, Washoe learned over 800 signs. [ 26 ]
There is ongoing debate among some scientists, notably Noam Chomsky and David Premack, about non-human great apes' ability to learn language. Since the early reports on Washoe, numerous other studies have been conducted with varying levels of success [ 27 ] , including one involving a chimpanzee named, in parody, Nim Chimpsky trained by Herbert Terrace of Columbia University. Although his initial reports were
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