Women may have invented weapons

THE survival techniques of West African chimpanzees have revealed that the first human weapons may have been developed by women.

The use of spears and axes to hunt and kill is commonly thought to have been pioneered among humanity's ancestors by males, but research has indicated weapons may have been a female invention that compensated for their lesser size and strength.

The findings are the first evidence of the systematic use of weapons in a species other than humans - and they are intriguing because all but one of the chimps using the spears were females or immature males.

This gender imbalance has led scientists to theorize that female chimps pioneered hunting with weapons as the only way in which they could compete with the physically stronger males to add animal protein to their diets.

While males can hunt with their bare hands, females need weapons to help them.

"Females have to come up with creative ways at getting at a problem, whereas males have brawn," said Jill Pruetz, of Iowa State University, who led the research.

Chimps have long been known to use tools such as stones, to crack nuts, but this is the first evidence for the systematic use of tools as weapons.

In other regions, male chimps hunt red colobus monkeys and tend to share any meat with females, often in return for sex.

The Fongoli males, however, kept bushbaby meat for themselves, because it was scarce. This may have led the females and immature males to adopt weapons as a way of obtaining meat.

There is only one other observed instance of any animal using a tool to hunt - a female chimp that used a stick to rouse a squirrel from a branch.

INTERESTING IDEA AIN'T IT?