Chimpanzees can learn to cook

Roast potatoes? .. Scientists from Harvard University in a series of experiments have found that chimpanzees can learn how to prepare raw food, according to NBC News. At the same time, the primates, like humans, are able to postpone the satisfaction of hunger until the moment when the food is cooked.





The study was conducted in the Republic of Congo, where biologists have suggested a chimpanzee to try the fruits of sweet potato in cheese and boiled. It was found that monkeys prefer cooked vegetables. After that, scientists have shown primates two devices. With the help of one of the bottom they could cook a sweet potato, and the second left him raw.

Chimpanzees quickly learned how to operate both devices and began to cook their own food. The same thing happened in experiments using raw carrots. Scientists note that the monkeys in the course of its development have not learned to use fire. However, if they provide a source of heat, they are quite capable to learn cooking.

Another important discovery of the scientists was that chimps are able to postpone the satisfaction of hunger and wait until the food is cooked. This conclusion is based on the fact that monkeys preferred to cook even when they realized that it spent more time than if they ate them raw.

The study's authors believe that the results of the experiment are important for understanding how the cognitive abilities have evolved in the course of human evolution. Thus, the researchers concluded that if monkeys can learn to cook, especially the australopithecines were able to do it. In addition, they suggest that it is cooked food that is easier to digest, contributed to the development of the cerebral hemispheres of our ancestors.

via dni.ru/society/2015/6/3/305334.html