Scientists have discovered that chimpanzees use ancient military tactics to make decisions and avoid potentially deadly conflicts with rival groups. Researchers observed how two western chimpanzee communities (Pan primitive people verus) In Africa, they went into the hills to spy on each other, similar to the reconnaissance missions used by the military. They then used this information to decide when to enter the disputed territory.

Many animals look for danger in their environments, but scientists have documented for the first time a nonhuman species’ careful use of heights to assess the risk of territorial conflict, according to a new study published Nov. 2 in the journal PLOS Biology.

“This really demonstrates the capacity for metacognition, which is the ability to reflect on one’s own knowledge and act on things you don’t know to learn more,” said Sylvain Lemoine, lead author of the study. biological in anthropology from the University of Cambridge. he told LiveScience.

According to a statement from the University of Cambridge, the use of high ground is one of the oldest military tactics in human warfare. Chimpanzees live in communities that compete for space and resources, and their normal behavior coordinated aggressionincluding accidental killings.

The boundaries between chimpanzee communities are not clear-cut and it is their daily presence in an area that matters, Lemoine said, adding that it is like living in a “permanent, low-intensity, small-scale state of war.”

New study looked at two neighboring groups of chimpanzees it observed Tai Chimpanzee Project, a research and conservation project based in Taï National Park in Côte d’Ivoire (Côte d’Ivoire). The team, along with students and local assistants who were not named in the study, tracked the chimpanzees for eight to 12 hours a day between 2013 and 2016, collecting GPS and behavioral data.

The data showed that chimpanzees were more likely to climb hills when heading towards the edges of their territory than in the centre. According to the research, they rest peacefully on these hills and do not engage in activities that may affect their hearing.

The study found that chimpanzees were more likely to move from high ground to contested territory when their rivals were far away, suggesting they were using hills to avoid conflict. However, they can also use them to find opportunities to attack. Lemoine noted that when members of two communities meet, the balance of power (number of each side) is an important factor in determining whether one side will escalate violence. Chimpanzees appear to be able to weigh the costs and benefits of interaction, and crests help them do this.

“They use high points to find the right conditions where they can or cannot risk an attack,” Lemoine said.

The new study only examined chimpanzees in Thai National Park, but Lemoine told Live Science that he suspects other chimpanzees also use this tactic, depending on the region.

The complex cognitive abilities that help chimpanzees expand their territories are favored by natural selection, potentially suggesting that this battle tactic is based on evolution, Lemony said in a statement. “We may be seeing traces of early small-scale warfare that probably existed in prehistoric hunter-gatherer populations,” he said.