Simian on Simians

Would it surprise you to learn that chimpanzees may be smarter than college kids? I’ve always been a bit suspicious. And Kyoto University cognitive scientist (yay, Jon!) Tetsuro Matsuzawa may have confirmed that suspicion, it seems. The smartest of the chimps in the experiment, Ayumu, consistently trounced the college students in a test of numerical recollection (he was trained to recognize the arabic numerals 1-9 in sequence). His study is published in the Dec. 4 issue of Current Biology.¹ Now, between this and being the first mammal in space, I am beginning to think that Pan troglodytes may be on its’ way to the rank of dominant species on earth. We humans had better step up to the plate; we’re falling behind in all the things that we had previously thought made us so special among species.

And if you think that the chimps are not a threat, think again… “the chimps chewed off most of Davis’ face, tore off his foot and attacked his limbs and genitals.” I won’t even go into how much more accurate they are when throwing their poop than humans.

¹ Current Biology Volume 17, Issue 23, 4 December 2007, Pages R1004-R1005.