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In South Carolina, members of the local Black community are teaming up with scientists to produce a novel study of the trans-Atlantic slave trade
Santa Cruz CA (SPX) Nov 21, 2023 - The discovery that chimpanzees use tools to fish for termites revolutionized our understanding of their abilities - but we still don't have crucial context to help us understand termite fishing and
When we discovered that chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) ‘fish’ for termites we also learned that humans are not unique in our use of tools. But until now, research has overlooked the importance of how termite ecology might shape their predator-prey interaction with chimpanzees.
<p>Termites are a crucial source of nutrients for chimpanzees, who fish for them with tools, but they’re not always accessible. Now, researchers copying chimpanzee tools and techniques have shown that chimpanzees living in western Tanzania can only reliably fish for termites in the early wet season, when other foods are abundant. These chimpanzees fish for termites because they can, not because they need to. The results raise the possibility that chimpanzees could even be predicting termite availability before they go fishing.</p>
UCSC researchers' methods could provide significantly more detail and certainty in identifying first-generation enslaved individuals in the Americas and tracing back their origins within Africa than was previously possible through strontium isotope analysis work or genetic analysis.