“But then, we heard chest beats, a display characteristic for gorillas, and realized that the chimpanzees had encountered a group of five gorillas.” ![]() Southern, the study’s lead author, in a statement. “At first, we only noticed screams of chimpanzees and thought we were observing a typical encounter between individuals of neighboring chimpanzee communities,” said Lara M. In the first attack in December 2019, more than two dozen chimps went after five gorillas. The lethal encounters between the two species occurred as they were being observed at Loango National Park in Gabon, according to a study Monday in the journal Nature. ‘Filthy’ zoo refuses to release ‘world’s saddest gorilla’ for less than $780KĬhimpanzees have been seen killing gorillas in unprovoked attacks for the first time, scientists said. This is what bored apes do to catch a buzz: new study gorilla’s medical exam: stunning close-up look The scientists say that further research is needed to understand primates’ motivations for engaging in these behaviours, to understand why our own ancestors might also have been driven to seek out these spinning and mind-altering experiences.No more monkey business as Albany tries to stop ‘banana races’ amid allegations of animal cruelty ![]() Scientists say this new study could be more relevant to explain the role of altered states on the evolution of the human mind. Previous studies which attempted to understand human motivation for self-inducing dizziness focused on substance use such as alcohol or drugs, but it is uncertain whether these or other substances would have been accessible to human ancestors, either because those substances were not available in their environment or because individuals and communities didn’t have the technical and cultural knowledge to produce or process psychoactive substances. If all great apes seek dizziness, then our ancestors were also highly likely to have done so. The researchers sought to understand whether spinning can be studied as a primordial behaviour that human ancestors could have engaged in to tap into other states of consciousness. Spinning alters our state of consciousness, it messes up with our body-mind responsiveness and coordination, which make us feel sick, lightheaded, and even elated as in the case on children playing in merry-go-rounds, spinner-wheels, and carousels.” “If this was indeed the case, it would carry huge consequences on how we think about modern human cognition capacities and emotional needs. This human trait of seeking altered states is so universal, historically, and culturally, that it raises the intriguing possibility that this is something that has been potentially inherited from our evolutionary ancestors. Researchers analysed the videos and compared the apes’ behaviour to videos of purposeful human pirouettes, for example, ballet dancing, traditional Hopak dancing, and aerial silks performances.ĭr Adriano Lameira, Associate Professor of Psychology at The University of Warwick who co-led the study, commented: “Every culture has found a way of evading reality through dedicated and special rituals, practices, or ceremonies. In the videos analysed, the primates were using ropes or vines to spin, which the authors believe enabled them to achieve such fast speeds for such an extended period of time. “Spinning is a way in which great apes can change their state of mind and, since these apes share with humans the tendency to create such experiences, our discovery offers the tantalising prospect that we’ve inherited this drive to seek altered mental states from our evolutionary ancestors.” This would indicate that the primates deliberately keep spinning, despite starting to feel the effects of dizziness, until they are unable to keep their balance any longer.” “Apes became noticeably dizzy in many of the videos, and they were likely to lose their balance and fall. ![]() Publishing their findings in Primates, researchers from the Universities of Birmingham and Warwick compared great ape spinning speeds - discovering that they can spin while holding on a rope as fast as professional human dancers and circus artists, as well as Dervish Muslims who take part in whirling ceremonies to achieve a spiritual trance.ĭr Marcus Perlman, Lecturer at the Department of English Language and Linguistics of the University of Birmingham who co-led the research, commented: “We experimented ourselves with spinning at these speeds, and found it difficult to sustain for as long the great apes did in several cases. Dr Marcus Perlman - University of Birmingham Spinning is a way in which great apes can change their state of mind and, since these apes share with humans the tendency to create such experiences, our discovery offers the tantalising prospect that we’ve inherited this drive to seek altered mental states from our evolutionary ancestors.
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