![]() ![]() Early hominids - humans and their nearest ancestors - did exactly the same thing as early as 2.5 million years ago in Africa, although paleoanthropologists think that they were after meat, not peanut butter. ![]() ![]() He had knocked a sharp flake from a larger "core" and used it as a knife. Without hints or lessons, Morris the capuchin monkey had devised a technique that many scientists once considered a defining characteristic of early human ancestors: stone toolmaking. So he used this stone tool to saw through the covering and scoop out a snack. He tested each and found that one had a small, sharp end that would fit through the narrow slot and reach the acetate. Morris picked up a rock and banged it against the container. The gooey stuff was in a rigid, plastic container that he couldn't get into because of the narrow opening at the top and the thin, clear acetate covering beneath. But this time, he could see and smell peanut butter, one of his favorite foods. Morris, a capuchin monkey at a research colony in Poolesville, Md., had played with quartz before. The rock was quartz, a brittle material that shatters when banged against something hard. One day when he was playing get-the-peanut-butter, he picked up a rock and - in less than two minutes - accomplished something that shook the assumptions of scientists who think about what makes us human. ![]()
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