mcdaniel@adi.com (Tim McDaniel) (12/12/90)
Please note the cross-posting. Subject line was "Re: we are alien". In article <kde.659918178@heawk1>, kde@heawk1.gsfc.nasa.gov ( Keith Evans) writes: > But with communication, one can think and make plans rather than > just brute force it (i.e., kill an animal for food, "you chase him > around that way and I'll wait for him"). I recently read "Through a Window", by Jane Goodall. I loaned it out, so I can't check details or give precise references. She describes a band of chimps hunting a colobus monkey with an infant. The colobus climbed a tree. Each chimp climbed one of the adjacent trees, one chimp leaped into the tree with the colobus, the colobus mother leaped to another tree, and the chimp there easily caught the infant and killed it. Sounds like good planning and teamwork to me. She, and that researcher at the Amsterdam Zoo (?), have also described chimp power politics: long-range planning, alliances, backstabbing, brown-nosing, coat-tail riding, et cetera. In article <1990Dec4.081503.1959@desire.wright.edu> sbishop@desire.wright.edu writes: My comment on this; who says animals can communicate inter-species? Too many people seem to think that there is this mystical communication between all animals. There is no evidence that this is true. There is, however, non-mystical communication between a wide variety of animals. Jane Goodall says that chimps and baboons listen for and understand each others' calls. Baboons, for instance, often scream distinctively when they find a rich food source; nearby chimps hear it and zero in on it. They also understand each others' alarm screams. As best I recall, "Natural History Magazine" had an article mentioning that certain birds understand the calls of other birds. On chimp-baboon communication and interaction: Jane Goodall describes the mating of a chimp male with a baboon female (unique, and one of the most incredible things she has ever seen). The chimp displayed as a chimp male does: shows an erect penis, rustles branches, makes calls. Baboon males, however, just show an erection and approach the female. The baboon, though, realized what was on the chimp's mind, and approached and stood on all fours waiting for mating ("assume the position"). Chimp females, however, crouch to the ground for mating, with the male sitting behind; a baboon male grasps the females's ankles with his feet before mounting. The chimp pushed with his knuckles, trying to get the baboon to crouch; she crouched a bit. He pushed again, and she crouched a bit more. He then grasped her ankles with his feet and mounted her. Neither of them followed their species stereotyped mating behavior, and they negotiated their differences. (There was no wet spot, so that was no problem.) The interaction between chimps and baboons is strange. She has observed chimps and baboons: - ignoring each other peacefully (usual, even when mixing groups) - competing for food (fairly common) - observing hazards, like snakes (occasional) - trying to mate (very rare) - infants playing with each other (common) And chimps hunting baboon infants (rarely successful). Can anyone think of one non-human species which plays with, interacts peacefully with, AND hunts another non-human species? I've heard that dolphins will leap a barrier to be with orcas, as long as the orcas aren't hungry (David Brin? Larry Niven?). Is this true? Is there a correlation with intelligence, then? And why don't baboons (dolphins) gang up against the vastly-outnumbered chimps (orcas) and wipe them out, to end all such predation? -- Tim McDaniel Applied Dynamics Int'l.; Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA Work phone: +1 313 973 1300 Home phone: +1 313 677 4386 Internet: mcdaniel@adi.com UUCP: {uunet,sharkey}!amara!mcdaniel