Wild Gorillas Impress With Their Tools

fatgav writes "The BBC is running an article about wild gorillas being seen to use tools in the wild. It is especially significant as not only have Gorillas never been seen to use tools, but they have been using them in a way unlike other great apes. From the article: 'The most astonishing thing is that we have observed them using tools not for obtaining food, but for postural support.' The scientists are getting excited as it can help to explain questions as to how the most advanced great ape (us) came to evolve."

But...

[Anonymous Coward]

Are we any closer to explaining this:
http://www.ntk.net/media/dancemonkeyboy.mpg [ntk.net].

And yet they say "Intelligent Design" isn't a falsifiable theory...

Let's just hope..

[yagu]

Let's just hope they never evolve to the level where they take up arms and declare war against us. Our record in Gorilla warfare hasn't been so stellar.

They don't impress me much...

[The Real Nem]

I thought Gorillas had relatively small "tools" compared to their human counterparts. Certainly nothing much to impress with.

Well, it's a known fact...

[clambake]

Human tools are bigger than gorilla tools... I mean, that's what makes us "great" apes right? (That and out ability to make puns at the drop of a hat!)

Re:Here's a hint

[Anonymous Coward]

Hahaha, hey, 769 BC called, they want their myths and lengends they pulled out of their ass back!!!

Wow

[bahwi]

Such the wrong impression from that title. My mind is way too low right now.

I learn intellegent design from school.

[Anonymous Coward]

My teacher says it proves all answers are in the Bible and that science nowdays is work of the devil. If you believe in science you're a fool. I pray for your souls.

No big deal

[darklordyoda]

Not a big deal, we already control the gorillas' habitats.

Now when the dolphins grow opposable thumbs, then we're screwed.

Gorillas Gone Wild

[Zakabog]

See these WILD gorillas use their tools in ways never seen before! Order now and get "Gorillas Gone Wild: Spring Break Edition." A new tape sent every month, cancel any time!

Re:But...

[HermanAB]

That video is different. It doesn't display any intelligence.

Re:Let's just hope..

[VeryProfessional]

Our record in Gorilla warfare hasn't been so stellar.

Just fight them in space... their record in stellar warfare makes them look like gorillas.

Worst... Title... EVAR... +Some real facts

[Dave21212]

Wild Gorillas Impress With Their Tools... oh my, they do.

(Seriously, this is from a real book [arizona.edu])
Excerpt From "Gorillas among Us: A Primate Ethnographer's Book of Days [arizona.edu]"

"They mated and were done in about two minutes. I guess he thought they were finished and went back to eating his celery. All of their matings before had been brief, usually only one or two copulations. But she turned around and stared at him again, just like before. He tried to turn away, but she stayed inches away from his face. They ended up mating thirty-three times that day. It was so funny, because he kept that celery in his hand the whole time and never got a chance to eat it. At the end of the day he came inside and passed out with that sorry wilted stalk still clenched in his fist."

So true...

[Cerdic]

And they are such showoffs about it. I was invited over to the zoo last weekend by a gorilla. He was chugging the beers when he suddenly decided to take me to the tool shed to show me the new bandsaw he bought the day before.

From t-squares to circular saws, that ape had it all. I'm envious :(

Meta post...

[ktakki]

I predict that the comments to follow this story will consist of...

• 54 comments about the double-entendre of the story's headline
• 37 comments from people wondering where the gorillas got the credit card needed to order the Leatherman from thinkgeek.com
• 15 "I, for one, welcome our tool-using gorilla overlords..."
• 9 "In Soviet Uganda..."
• 3 actually substantive comments about the use of tools among primates and other animals, such as chimps using sticks to probe anthills and termite mounds, seagulls dropping shellfish on beachside parking lots to break them open, dolphins using sea sponges to protect their snouts as they forage for food near stinging stonefish, and wood finches using twigs and cactus spines to pry insects out of tree trunks.

k.

What an Old Story

[LordHatrus]

Really now, slashdot. I'm ashamed. You call yourselves technophiles? My buddies and I were on 'the scene' of these new technologies 6,000 years ago! Honestly!

First comes postural support

[cove209]

Next comes Planet of the Apes

What a job...

[SenseOfHumor]

"We've been observing gorillas for 10 years here, and we have two cases of them using detached objects as tools,"...

Where do I sign up for these jobs?

This is consistent with His Noodly Teachings

[ScentCone]

From the article: 'The most astonishing thing is that we have observed them using tools not for obtaining food, but for postural support.'

Sure, because being simple souls, they get all of the flown-in pasta they can pray for. And of course, Postural Support is exactly the sort of thing that you'd expect from a Creator [venganza.org] that really understands what it's like to have only Noodly Appendages.

Re:Baboons

[HermanAB]

"Actually, some folks think baboons are more intelligent than gorillas... Steve Van Nattan is one. Here's a really odd..." Uhh, are you saying that Steve van Nattan is a baboon or a gorilla?

Yeah,

[jpellino]

Murdoc & Noodle do OK with their axes - dunno if you give Russel credit (are drumsticks tools?) but 2D's certainly learned to make the best with what he's lost...

Re:Ape Tales

[sd_diamond]

Now they're seen using walking sticks. Perhaps we'll find that apes use the sticks in different styles, and that some styles are learned by watching other apes. What would we look for to discover that some of that learning is derived from the marks made by the sticks, rather than watching a stick-using ape "in person"? If we found those records, would we have discovered "ape fashion magazines"?

"Oh... My... God. Did you even SEE that gnarly branch that Og was carrying around yesterday? And he calls that a walking stick? What-EVER. I so can't believe that I almost copulated with him last mating season. I only hope the primatologists weren't watching. I would NEVER be able to live with myself..."

Be-Fore-play.

[Anonymous Coward]

"That must have been some come-hither look she was giving him!"

That wasn't a "come hither" look. That was a "Are you done already? Don't you dare roll over and fall asleep until I've had an orgasm".

Cluster!

[hellfire]

You forgot the 1 comment wishing for a beowulf cluster of tool-using gorillas.

Re:But...

[MarkRose]

Well, some primates are definitely intelligent. After all, have you ever had this done to you [nyud.net] at the zoo?

Re:Here's a hint

[cdn2k1]

Evolution? Pssssh. Everyone knows we were created by the flying spaghetti monster. [wikipedia.org]

The Internet

[NitsujTPU]

Wild Gorillas Impress With Their Tools

The Internet is just full of sickos, isn't it.

Re:Worst... Title... EVAR... +Some real facts

[craXORjack]

They ended up mating thirty-three times that day. It was so funny, because he kept that celery in his hand the whole time and never got a chance to eat it. At the end of the day he came inside and passed out with that sorry wilted stalk still clenched in his fist.

Thirty three times and he still wouldn't give her a bite of his celery... Meanwhile, somewhere among the hairless apes, there is a male who has taken a female to dinner thirty three times and never even gotten to second base. Proof that the universe is in perfect balance.

They didn't need to go to the jungle to see this

[gregux]

The most astonishing thing is that we have observed them using tools not for obtaining food, but for postural support.

Drive past any highway repair crew and there will be at least one guy leaning on a shovel.

of course

[albeit unknown]

They use chairs as a tool. An alpha male will throw a chair at a beta male leaving for another tribe.

Re:Worst... Title... EVAR... +Some real facts

[bsartist]

That last sentence... is he talking about the celery?

Re:Worst... Title... EVAR... +Some real facts

[dancingmad]

sorry wilted stalk still clenched in his fist

I bet he did!!

LIES!!! SATANIC LIES!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

This is just another example of the extreme activist scientists pushing their satanic lies of "evolution" down our throats. You see an ape with a stick and you think evolution? HELLO PEOPLE! God made the world in 7 DAYS! God made MAN. God made APES. APES did NOT make MAN!!!

You need to crack open your Holy Bible and repent for this transgression against God almighty! It is through HIS Intelligent Design of the world that you exist!!!

Re:Here's a hint

[mkro]

Humans didn't "evolve" from anything, and certainly not apes. Give me a break!

Whoa, guys! Check it out! This one can type!