Or will a second civilization appear on Earth? Scientists have found that East African chimpanzees have learned to dig wells for water

There was no life on the earth, after the origin of life, the creatures of the earth have evolved for billions of years before they have a vibrant scene, and the evolution process of living things is probably from simple to complex, from low to high. According to the evolutionary point of view, we humans evolved from forest apes 20 million years ago, along with chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys and other primates. Because these primates share a common ancestor with humans and have many similarities, they are used in many scientific studies. In the course of the study, the scientists found that some primates exhibited some human-like behavior, which made some people worry about whether a second civilization would appear on Earth.

East African chimpanzees learn to dig wells for water

There are countless kinds of creatures on earth, we humans are very different from other animals, and we have entered the era of civilized society. And our civilized society did not appear at once, but was established after millions of years. And in the early days, the life of human society is still very primitive, production tools are also very backward, for example, 3 million years ago, human beings entered the Paleolithic Age, one of the signs is that humans learned to build stone tools as tools, weapons.

Of course, it's not just us humans on Earth who learn to use tools, many animals actually use tools, for example, the story of the crow drinking water is actually true. Of all animals except humans, chimpanzees use the most tools, and they have a very high IQ, not only using stones to smash nuts, but have even learned to dig wells for water. What's going on?

Researchers at the University of Kent in the UK and the University of St Andrews in the UK found a surprising behavior while looking at the Vibila community of chimpanzees in East Africa, Uganda. In this chimpanzee community, there is a young female chimpanzee named Oniofi, who only joined the chimpanzee community in 2015 and began digging wells after joining the community. The researchers said the chimpanzee should have lived in a chimpanzee colony that was good at digging before migrating to this community.

The other chimpanzees in the community were also intrigued by the chimpanzee Oniofi's behavior, and they patiently watched the chimpanzee dig a well for water. Subsequently, some female chimpanzees in the community also began to imitate the behavior of the oniofi chimpanzees and began to learn to dig wells for water.

These chimpanzees have really high IQs and are very good at learning. Hera Peter, a lead researcher at the University of Kent and a doctoral student in biological anthropology, said that although these chimpanzees live in the rainforest and water should not be a scarce material, there are several months of dry seasons every year, which will cause some trouble for these chimpanzees. Now these chimpanzees dig wells close to open water, probably to get cleaner waters from them.

Panamanian monkeys or stepping into the Stone Age?

Not only did chimpanzees behave like humans, but capuchin monkeys living in Brazil's Capivara National Park also made sharp stone flakes like ancient humans in the Paleolithic age. The researchers found that these capuchin monkeys usually use stones to smash nuts, dig spiders or plant roots from the ground, and they also smash some round stones against the cliff wall to throw some sharp fragments. After studying some of the fragments, the researchers found that half of the stone fragment quality was comparable to that of stone tools made by humans in the Paleolithic age.

Whether it's the Panamanian monkeys that researchers discovered before to make sharp stone flakes, or the East African chimpanzees that researchers have discovered now learned to dig wells for water, these findings have made many people worry that a second civilization may appear on Earth, and that these primates may replace us humans in the future. We can understand such concerns, because primates are one of the most intelligent animals on the planet, and they evolved from forest apes like us humans, but only hundreds and five years ago, when everyone evolved in different directions, different species appeared. Now that these primates have exhibited certain human behaviors in the Paleolithic age, it is indeed easy to think about whether these primates are re-experiencing the process of human rise. If we are really repeating the process of human rise, is it possible that we humans will be replaced?

In fact, we don't need to worry. Although these primates exhibit some kind of human-like behavior, it does not mean that they will move in the direction of civilization. First, the Capuchin monkeys in Brazil learned to make sharp stone flakes, which is different from the situation in which humans made stone tools in the Stone Age, and there is a very big difference: humans make these tools purposefully, such as for hunting, defense, etc., but these monkeys make sharp stone flakes without purpose, just smash some stones out of sharp flakes, and do not use them as tools.

Second, it is clear that the situation on Earth does not allow for the emergence of a second civilization. Because now human beings are the "masters" of the earth, the intelligent creatures on the earth, and have mastered a large number of advanced technologies, we humans have limited the rise of other creatures in the process of development. Under such circumstances, even if these primates have a tendency to develop in the direction of intelligent civilization, they have no chance to rise. A very simple example, the rise of human civilization is largely related to the consumption of fossil fuels, and now that the energy of the earth is in our hands, monkeys and primates cannot get enough energy, and naturally cannot develop.

This situation is also reminiscent of 65 million years ago, when dinosaurs had become the "ruler" of the earth, and in that era dinosaurs were the absolute "overlords", and other creatures could not challenge the status of dinosaurs. If it weren't for an asteroid up to 10 kilometers in diameter hitting the Earth and causing the extinction of the dinosaurs, humans might not have been able to rise. If you consider the future human colonization of alien planets, in the absence of humans, perhaps these primates may replace humans as the new "overlords" of the earth.