黑猩猩曾被发现向树扔石头和毫无理由地大喊大叫

黑猩猩曾被发现向树扔石头和毫无理由地大喊大叫

Chimpanzees in West Africa have a song, and it goes like this - hoot loudly, and then throw a rock at a tree. Maybe twice. And then saunter away.

西非的黑猩猩有一首歌，它是这样唱的——大声地叫，然后向一棵树扔石头。也许两次。然后就溜掉了。

Whatever it is our primate cousins are trying to do, we honestly have no idea. But a close look at their choice of instruments just might provide some clues, as the chimps have been observed throwing the rocks at certain types of trees.

不管我们的灵长类表亲想做什么，我们真的不知道。但仔细观察他们选择的工具可能会提供一些线索，因为黑猩猩曾被观察到用石头砸某些类型的树。

Primatologists from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, who first observed this behaviour a few years ago, have now tossed some rocks of their own to determine whether rock-hurling would work as a type of communication.

德国马克斯·普朗克进化人类学研究所的灵长类动物学家在几年前第一次观察到这种行为，现在他们已经投掷了一些自己的石头，以确定投掷石头是否可以作为一种交流方式。

It's no secret that our primate relatives use stones for a variety of practical purposes, from extracting tortoise fresh from the can to casting them as weapons.

众所周知，我们的灵长类亲戚把石头用于各种各样的实际用途，从从罐头里取出刚从罐头里取出的乌龟，到把石头作为武器。

In 2016, the Max Planck primatologists recorded chimpanzees from four wild populations in West Africa hooting excitedly and then throwing a single rock at the wide base of a large tree before running off.

2016年，马克斯·普朗克灵长类动物学家记录了来自西非四个野生种群的黑猩猩兴奋地叫着，然后向一棵大树宽阔的底部扔一块石头，然后逃跑。

Exactly why they did this wasn't at all clear. There's a sense of something cultural, even ritualistic about the practice. Stones had piled up at the bases of the regularly used tree-drums, suggesting there is something special about those particular instruments.

他们这样做的确切原因完全不清楚。这是一种文化上的感觉，甚至是一种仪式。石头堆积在经常使用的鼓的底部，表明这些特殊的乐器有一些特别之处。

One possibility is that the clunk-crash noise of the collision communicates a message over long distances, similar to how Australian palm cockatoos might use sticks to bash out a beat in search of a mate.

一种可能性是，碰撞发出的碰撞声在远距离上传递了一种信息，就像澳大利亚棕榈凤头鹦鹉在寻找配偶时可能会用棍子敲打一样。

The researchers were also struck by the fact that the chimps that practiced 'accumulative stone throwing' (AST) didn't throw them at any old type of tree; they returned to the same species time and again.

研究人员还惊讶于这样一个事实，即练习“累计扔石头”(AST)的黑猩猩不会向任何一种古树扔石头;他们一次又一次地回到同一物种。

Maybe the wood had a special quality that carried sound through the forest, like some sort of chimp telegraph service? One that said 'stay clear of us' or 'check out my rock throwing skills, baby!'

也许木头有一种特殊的性质，能把声音传送到森林里，就像某种黑猩猩的电报服务?一个说“离我们远点”或者“宝贝，看看我扔石头的本事!”

We predicted that chimpanzee AST tree species produce sounds that have energy concentrated at lower frequencies and a greater resonance since these impact sounds would be optimal for long-distance communication, the team writes in their new report.

研究小组在他们的新报告中写道:“我们预测，黑猩猩的AST树会发出能量集中在较低频率和更强共振的声音，因为这些撞击声音最适合远距离通信。”