New Study on Tool-Using Monkeys Contradicts Evolution Theory
Modern-day
monkeys living in forests of Thailand have been found to make stone
artifacts eerily similar to those thought to have been made by early
humans. This discovery challenges the accepted story of human
cultural evolution.
The
long-tailed macaque monkeys produced stone artifacts
“indistinguishable from what we see at the beginning of the [human]
archeological record — what we see as the onset of being human,”
said Lydia Luncz of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary
Anthropology and a co-author on the study.
To
be clear, tool use in primates has long been known. The mischievous
and social macaques are often seen using stones to break apart shells
to reach the meat inside. When they forage on beaches, the clever
monkeys use long, narrow and heavy stones which are perfect for
popping open oyster shells. If they were to use wider rocks, they
risk smashing them into sharp fragments which could cause a problem
if a careless monkey tries to stick its face into a jagged hole.
The
researchers also found evidence that the macaques use the same stone
tools to obtain nuts. To do this, they strike two rocks together.
When they miss a strike, sometimes flakes might come off rocks.
Making flakes is similar to a toolmaking process called “knapping.”
Ancient humans are thought to have made a flexible set of tools by
using knapping — tools which cannot be distinquished from the ones
made by the macaques.
Scientists
believe that monkeys made their artifacts by accident, rather than by
design. But that only makes the discovery more confusing. Luncz said
that “all the conoidal flakes we find in the archaeological record
— deemed to be intentionally made — could be unintentional
byproducts.” Luncz points out that at the point early humans are
thought to have evolved big-enough brains, they became smart enough
to make tools by design. But the study suggests ancient humans could
have made their stone stone flakes by accident, just as they believe
the macaques have done.
Luncz
added, “An accidental stone breakage could have led us down the
evolutionary trajectory of making stone tools.” But that idea is
controversial. Some scientists don’t want to call the monkey tools
“artifacts” because that implies intention, planning and
humanity, and these researchers don’t think there should be an
overlap between tool use by Homo sapiens and that of monkeys.
“People
were not happy with monkeys being able to create those artifacts,”
Luncz said. “And somewhere in the records of macaque and early
hominid tools, there must be a difference. But right now, the
diagnostic criteria we’re using can’t find one.”
The
controversy between these scientists involves what it
means to be human. There is a long-standing debate over whether
animal social learning can be described with the loaded word
“culture.” Although Luncz doesn’t use that word, nevertheless,
she notes that “nut cracking in primates is socially transmitted —
a monkey in isolation doesn’t learn it. It’s our material culture
that we use to recreate our history.”
Comments:
It
is not hard to have some sympathy for paleontologists as they
struggle to understand what went on in nature before scientists were
around to observe, take notes, and do experiments. For now, we can be
sure that most
secular scientists will stick to their beliefs that primates like
apes and monkeys had to evolve their intelligence over the eons in
order to eventually
become Homo sapiens.
One
wonders though how secular scientists work around
the observations
of
non-primate tool use if
they believe toolmaking is a sign that humanity is evolving.
New Caledonian crows make tools by fashioning twigs into spears and
hooks which they use to eat grubs. Sea otters will use rocks or other hard objects to dislodge food.
According to Live Science, bottlenose dolphins can
carry
“marine sponges in their beaks to stir ocean-bottom sand and
uncover prey, spending more time hunting with tools than any animal
besides humans.”
Live
Science
says, “Scientists once thought of tool use as a defining feature of
humans, but increasingly research is showing adept tool users on
land, air and sea in the animal kingdom. Investigating how such
behavior developed in this diverse mix promises to shed light on how
tool use might have originated in humanity.”
But
Live Science is wrong in thinking secular researchers will ever get a
clear picture of any “evolution” of tool use. It is more
reasonable to believe the knowledge of how to make and use tools was
built into animals when they were created and has nothing to do with
evolution. And we know that the earliest humans must have had tools
in
order to
build cities (Genesis 4:17) and to make tents and musical instruments (Genesis 4:20-21).
But
our
most useful tool is the Holy Bible because like a light it shows us
the way to heaven. “and
that
from
infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make
you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus”
(2 Timothy 3:15). Let us use this tool more than any tool we have in
our toolbox or garage. These
man-made tools can’t
save us for eternity.
By
Warren Krug
Reference:
Saul Elbein, “New study on monkeys using stone tools raises questions about evolution,” The Hill (March 10, 2023). (Photo of a
macaque.)
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QUESTION
OF THE DAY
What
are black holes?
Black
holes are objects in space which contain so much gravity that they
pull anything nearby into them—dust, gas, rocks and even light.
Giant black holes can devour even entire stars. Fortunately, there is
no black hole anywhere near Earth.
Source:
“Hungry Holes,” Kids Answers (October-December, 2022), page 25.
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