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Chimpanzees Prefer Crystals Over Rocks Indicating Shared Evolutionary Trait: Study
Enculturated chimpanzees at a Spain sanctuary preferred crystals over rocks and identified types like quartz and pyrite, showing a shared evolutionary attraction to geometric shapes.
- Archaeological evidence shows that hominins gathered crystals as far back as 780,000 years ago, even though these stones were not used as tools, weapons, or jewelry, leaving scientists uncertain about their purpose.
- In a study published in Frontiers in Psychology, researchers in Spain presented enculturated chimpanzees with crystals and ordinary stones to examine whether they could recognize and show interest in crystals.
- The chimps quickly selected crystals over normal rocks, closely examining them by rotating, tilting, and even carrying them away. They also distinguished different crystal types from pebbles, showing curiosity about their transparency, symmetry, and shine.
- Because humans and chimpanzees share a common ancestor millions of years ago, the study suggests that fascination with visually striking objects like crystals may have ancient evolutionary origins linked to the development of human perception and aesthetics.
20 Articles
20 Articles
Do Chimpanzees Know Crystal Magic, or Are They Just Really Into Jewelry?
Shiny objects sure are pretty. Humans have been picking them up for hundreds of thousands of years and admiring them, sometimes keeping them as good luck charms, as spiritual cleansing devices, as investment pieces, as jewelry. It makes sense that a new study found that we might not be the only primates wired to be fascinated by shiny objects like crystals. Researchers studying chimpanzees at a rehabilitation center near Madrid found that the an…
Which Chimp Should Wield The Crystal?
More than a century ago, the Chinese paleontologist and archaeologist Pei Wenzhong found an unusual trove in the same cave near Beijing where he found the skulls of the early hominin Peking Man. Along with the remains of a 700,000-year-old Homo erectus, Wenzhong unearthed a collection of 20 quartz crystals, one of which was a "perfectly faceted, smoky quartz crystal," the researcher Juan Manuel García-Ruiz wrote in a 2018 paper. In 1931, Wenzhon…
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