Chimpanzees reveal their human side as good Samaritans
Roger Highfield
Telegraph.co.uk
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The first evidence that being a good Samaritan is not a uniquely human trait, as most scientists thought, has been published.
There are many examples in the animal kingdom of individuals, whether ants or monkeys, that help their relatives.However, only humans seem to help others to whom we are not related - "out of the goodness of our hearts".
But today, in the journal Science, two chimpanzee studies shed light on the science of co-operation and suggest that our closest relatives lend a hand in human-like ways.
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See Also:
Tots, chimps show varying altruistic bent
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In one, Felix Warneken and Dr Michael Tomasello of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, tested 18-month-old children and young chimpanzees to see if they offered help when the researchers carried out simple tasks, such as stacking books and reaching objects, such as a dropped clothes peg.
The infants seemed to understand their struggles, itself remarkable, and were eager to help with most tasks.More remarkably, the chimpanzees were willing to help the humans reach an object, but they were less reliable helpers on other tasks.
Mar 03, 2006
Roger Highfield
Telegraph.co.uk
___________
The first evidence that being a good Samaritan is not a uniquely human trait, as most scientists thought, has been published.
There are many examples in the animal kingdom of individuals, whether ants or monkeys, that help their relatives.However, only humans seem to help others to whom we are not related - "out of the goodness of our hearts".
But today, in the journal Science, two chimpanzee studies shed light on the science of co-operation and suggest that our closest relatives lend a hand in human-like ways.
__________________
See Also:
Tots, chimps show varying altruistic bent
__________________
In one, Felix Warneken and Dr Michael Tomasello of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, tested 18-month-old children and young chimpanzees to see if they offered help when the researchers carried out simple tasks, such as stacking books and reaching objects, such as a dropped clothes peg.
The infants seemed to understand their struggles, itself remarkable, and were eager to help with most tasks.More remarkably, the chimpanzees were willing to help the humans reach an object, but they were less reliable helpers on other tasks.
Mar 03, 2006
