Posted on 12/26/2009 9:46:45 AM PST by JoeProBono
Chimps remain cool under fire, possessing a near human ability to predict how wildfires spread and react accordingly. This newfound capability of chimpanzees to understand flames might shed light on when and how our distant ancestors first learned to control fire, scientists now suggest.
Primatologist Jill Pruetz at Iowa State University in Ames was observing savanna chimpanzees in Senegal in 2006 as people were setting wildfires, an annual tradition that clears land and aids hunting. Most areas within the chimpanzees' home range are burned to some degree. "It was the end of the dry season, so the fires burn so hot and burn up trees really fast, and they were so calm about it," Pruetz said of the chimps.
"They were a lot better than I was, that's for sure." For the most part, wild animals consider fire very distressing, but the chimpanzees showed no sign of stress or fear with the wildfires, other than calmly avoiding the fire as it approached them. "I was surprised at how expert they were at handling the fire,"
Pruetz told LiveScience. "The fire was burning really hot, and the flames were at least 10 feet high, up to 20 feet at times."
The apes were experts at predicting where the fire would go, Pruetz noted. "I could predict it, sort of, but if it were just me, I would have left," she said.
"At one time, I actually had to push through them because I could feel the heat from the fire that was on the side of me and I just wasn't that comfortable with it."......
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
In the face of such overwhelming visual evidence I must of course reconsider my position!
This newfound capability of chimpanzees,so I guess all other animals just hang around when a fire comes to them.
Further evidence suggesting the primates inside the cages in Africa may be more evolved than the ones outside.
Don’t know how to post it myself, but this thread is crying out for the “Farside” cartoon by Gary Larson showing the apes or apemen fleeing the burning building with the “Fire Research” or some such, sign over the doors!
The chimps ain't braggin' on it, either.
Even geneticists reject the idea that we are related to chimps.
Zira did have a certain, er, animal magnetism. (Oh he didn’t go there! yes he did!)
They ARE just as smart as SOME human beings, it seems.
Or they get into the water to try to stay safe:
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I wish people would learn English, most especially hack headline writers.
“Controlling” means you can create it. You can extinguish it. You can make it burn right or left, or up and down.
All I read from the article says that chimps have finally figured out that fire is hot and they have a dim clue about whether to run or not.
Given that, it sounds like chimps might make good editors for Sciencedaily!
But there ain’t a single thing here to suggest “controlling”...
Oooops!
And my apologies to Sciencedaily. It’s another outfit called “livescience”.
But the chimps don’t know, so what difference does it make?
Is there a story for the wheelbarrow pic?
I like the way you made it seem the “thinking chimp” was looking at the fire.
Wow... Not photo shop? Awesome!
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