Chimps make more than 20 tools for use in daily life, including subsistence, sociality, and sex. Sex?


Since Jane Goodall observed a chimpanzee trimming a blade of grass and poking it into a passage in a termite mound to extract his meal, humans could no longer claim to be the only tool-making species.

Dr. McGrew, a professor at Cambridge explained that the tool for sex is a dry leaf that makes a noise when the chimp clips it with his hand or his mouth.

“The male will pluck a leaf, or a set of leaves, and sit so the female can see him. He spreads his legs so the female sees the erection, and he tears the leaf bit by bit down the midvein of the leaf, dropping the pieces as he detaches them. Sometimes he’ll do half a dozen leaves until she notices.”

This is the chimp equivalent of a human trying to attract women by driving around with a car thumping out 120-decibel music.

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