Chimpanzees spotted 'crabbing' in discovery which could rewrite human history - Metro.co.uk

A view of the Nimba Mountains, where chimps were spotted eating crab

Once upon a time, humans couldn’t simply pop down to Tesco, buy a crab and then happily enjoy a lovely light lunch.

At some point in ancient history, our ancestors had to figure out how to catch fish and other aquatic organisms, potentially providing them with nutrients which powered the brain development process which led to the evolution of modern humans.

Now scientists have found a clue about how we might have started to harvest the sea’s bounty after spotting chimpanzees eating crabs for the first time.

Chimps living in the Nimba Mountains in Guinea, West Africa, have been observed eating freshwater crabs.

Females and young animals are most likely to catch a crab, which gives them the sort of nutrients they normally get from wolfing down handfuls of tasty ants.

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Tetsuro Matsuzawa, senior co-author on a paper detailing the discovery, said: ‘”This isn’t the first case of non-human primates eating crabs, but is the first evidence of apes other than humans doing so.

‘Notably, previous observations were from monkey species in locations consistent with aquatic faunivory – lakes, rivers, or coastlines — and not in closed rainforest.

‘It’s exciting to see a behaviour like this that allows us to improve our understanding of what drove our ancestors to diversify their diet.’

The research ‘sheds light on our own evolution’ because it suggests fishing might not be dependent on habitat – which means ancient humans may have caught creatures living in rivers as well as the sea.

‘The aquatic fauna our ancestors consumed likely provided essential long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, required for optimal brain growth and function,’ explained first author Kathelijne Koops from the University of Zurich and Kyoto University’s leading graduate program in Primatology and Wildlife Science.

‘Further, our findings suggest that aquatic fauna may have been a regular part of hominins’ diets and not just a seasonal fallback food.’

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https://metro.co.uk/2019/05/29/chimpanzees-spotted-crabbing-discovery-rewrite-human-history-9723194/

2019-05-29 10:13:00Z
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