Posted: Mar 11, 2016 2:15 pm
DavidMcC wrote:The_Piper wrote:DavidMcC wrote:The_Piper wrote:The other explanations of it being a territorial behavior or adding to an aggressive display seem more plausible.
The stoner chimps.
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I agree, and you are probably right, but there would then have to be an audience for the stone-throwing. Unfortunately, the OP article doesn't mention whether there was such an audience.
An audience for the behaviour of a social animal is obviously crucial, so it is unfortunate that the article seems to have been written by someone who doesn't understand that.
I don't think it's crucial for there to be another chimp close by, it could be done just in case there is one within earshot distance. ...
If you prefer, but that is still "nearby" in the sense of being within hearing range. You were arbitraily applying an absolute distance scale on "nearby".
EDIT: If a chimp only hears the stone throwing, I doubt that he would respond on the assumption that it was by a member of his own troupe. Rather, I suspect that he would go and investigate the source of the sound before taking any other action.
I was focusing on your point that it's crucial for the chimp to have an audience. If the chimp is unseen how would the chimp know it had an audience? I said it might do it anyway just in case there was an audience.
If a chimp out of sight of the rock throwing chimp heard the banging as part of an aggressive display it might run away rather that investigate and potentially have a damaging fight on it's hands. That would be the point of the chimp doing the rock throwing in that idea. I don't want to speculate any deeper, since neither of us know what is going on.