Orangutans Instinctively Use Hammers to Strike and Sharp Rocks to Cut
Untrained, captive orangutans can finish two significant steps in the routine of stone tool use: striking rocks together and trimming utilizing a sharp stone, according to a research study by Alba Motes-Rodrigo at the University of Tübingen in Germany and colleagues, releasing February 16 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.
The researchers examined tool making and utilize in two restricted male orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) at Kristiansand Zoo in Norway. Neither had before been trained or introduced to presentations of the target behaviors.
The observations
Each orangutan received a concrete hammer, a prepared stone core, and two baited puzzle boxes needing them to cut through a rope or a silicon skin to access a food reward. Both orangutans automatically struck the hammer against the walls and floor of their enclosure. However, neither directed strikes towards the stone core. In a second experiment, the orangutans were similarly provided a human-made sharp flint flake, which one orangutan utilized to cut the silicon skin, solving the puzzle. This is the first display of cutting behavior in untrained, unenculturated orangutans.
After researching whether apes might discover the remaining steps from observing others, the scientists demonstrated how to strike the core to develop a flint flake for three female orangutans at Twycross Zoo in the UK. After these demonstrations, one female utilized the hammer to strike the core, directing the strikes towards the edge, as shown.
This research is the first to report spontaneous stone tool usage without close instructions in orangutans that humans have not enculturated. The authors say their observations suggest that two significant preconditions for the emergence of stone device usage– striking with stone hammers and acknowledging sharp stones as cutting tools– may have existed within our last common ancestor with orangutans, 13 million years ago.
The authors add: “Our study is the first to report that untrained orangutans can spontaneously use sharp rocks as cutting tools. We also found that they conveniently take part in lithic percussion and that this activity occasionally results in the detachment of sharp stone pieces.”
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