Study: Chimpanzees don't kill due to human interference
A new study in Nature states that chimpanzees have warrior-like instincts on their own, and aren't more likely to get aggressive when humans are around.
Researchers looked at data from more than 50 years in 18 different chimpanzee communities, as well as data from four groups of bonobos, the kinder cousin of the chimpanzee. The data showed that killings between chimps are not more likely to happen when humans are somehow involved in their life, and bonobos do not kill each other, period.
Chimpanzees and humans share a common ancestor from about seven million years ago, which is why researchers are so fascinated by whether or not there is a link between chimp and human behavior. Michael Wilson, an evolutionary anthropologist at the University of Minnesota, says that although people often argue that combat between humans is caused by factors like the development of weapons and the start of agriculture, chimp behavior seems to suggest that warfare has "a long evolutionary history."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published