Monkeys making tools. What’s next, using them? And, then before you know it they are our
overlords.
Scientists saw a group of capuchin monkeys
making stone flakes, an important type of early tool. It's not clear the
monkeys knew what they were making, but nonetheless, it might prompt
researchers to be more cautious when they come across ancient sites where
similar tools are usually attributed to early humans.
You make a flake by whacking two rocks
together. It has to be a kind of rock that breaks in a certain way, and you
have to hit one rock on another rock to break flakes off the striking rock. The
flake is shaped kind of like a scallop shell. Hold it carefully and you've got
a knife.
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Source: M. Haslam and the Primate
Archaeology Group/University of Oxford/Nature
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