40 Animals that Changed History

40 Animals that Changed History

Tim Flight - November 5, 2019

40 Animals that Changed History
The primatologist Jane Goodall with David Greybeard, 1970s. Twitter

25. A chimp named David Greybeard changed the definition of a human in 1960

Post-Darwin, scientists spent a lot of time trying to figure out how we differed from other animals. One of the most popular theories held that only humans could use tools. In 1960, a chimpanzee named David Greybeard blew the argument out of the water. The ingenious chimp flabbergasted famous primatologist Jane Goodall by using a grass stalk to extract termites from their mound. This proved to be the tip of the iceberg: Goodall witnessed the Gombe chimps make weapons and objects for grooming. David Greybeard transformed our understanding not only of chimpanzees but of human beings.

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