Wild Gorillas Impress With Their Tools 276
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."
Re:Here's a hint (Score:3, Insightful)
Humans are apes.
Sheesh. How could we evolve from ourselves?
Re:Here's a hint (Score:3, Insightful)
we are not the most advanced (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Possibility (Score:2, Insightful)
I'm not impressed by the walking stick, but (Score:5, Insightful)
hope creationists learn something from this (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:I'm not impressed by the walking stick, but (Score:2, Insightful)
I read about this in my local newspaper last night, and was thinking exactly the same thing. And not only that: the measurement she was taking was "indirect" and also included a reference to her self (or for those who consider that one should not use that word in this context: to her own body). It was not just a case of "is this stick longer than that piece of water is wide" (the lengths of which can easily be compare visually in one go), it was a case of "is this water deeper (something that can not be observed directly) than my body can tolerate without risking nasty consequences for myself". Really impressive.
Re:we are not the most advanced (Score:2, Insightful)
What people don't understand is that evolution is about adaptation, no advancement. Humans are exactly as adapted to their environment as Gorillas are (well, at least until we started messing up the jungles, etc.)
It's bad enough when you hear people say things like, "Chimps are way more evolved than Baboons", but folks love to think the we are evolving into some "higher" lifeform -- what this is no one knows.
Worst example of this is the argument posed by southern evangelicals:
Not only is this offensive, but it rests on two assumptions that are false: