Tool-set for termite-fishing and honey extraction by wild chimpanzees in the Lossi Forest, Congo |
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Authors: | Magdalena Bermejo German Illera |
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Affiliation: | (1) University of Barcelona, Av. Paral-lel 159, 2-3, 08004 Barcelona, Spain;(2) Present address: Cellule de Coordination, ECOFAC, BP 15115, Libreville, Gabon;(3) Present address: Projet Régional pour la Conservation “Conservation et Utilisation Rationnelle des Ecosystèmes Forestiers en, Afrique Centrale ECOFAC” (Plan d'Action Regional pour l'Afrique Centrale, UE, Congo |
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Abstract: | The use of perforating sticks and flexible stalks in combination for termite fishing and a complex tool-set of three components used sequentially (stout chiel, bodkin, and dip-stick) to penetrate melipone and ground-dwelling bee hives byPan troglodytes troglodytes are documented or, inferred from circumstantial evidence. Functionally, termite extraction tools were similar to other locations in west and central Africa, but the plants and the number of raw material species used were different. Tools varied in the degree of modification (fraying ends). Chimpanzees in the Lossi forest seem to be able to use the tools not in a stereotyped fashion, but in a flexible, insightful way. The extraction of Melipone honey using large pieces of wood as pounding tools has rarely been recorded elsewhere. The most impressive technological solution to the honey-getting problem by wild chimpanzees was shown by this study. This is the only known, use of a tool-set of three components in sequence to extract honey by wild chimpanzees. |
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Keywords: | Chimpanzee Pan troglodytes troglodytes Termites Bees Tool-set tool-use |
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