Gorillas and tool usage

[mith]

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/?p=547

Gorillas use of weapons suggest human tool evolution.

[MichaelXY]

Thats cool.
I used to live in the Philippines, and we had monkeys that would go through our trash cans. When we would try to run them off, they started throwing trash at us. After awhile they would grow bored and leave, but they were scary little dudes.

[alextemplet]

I think the part about a gorilla using stick to measure water depth is much more interesting than the gorillas throwing things. I always thought it was a well-accepted fact that primates throw things.

The main hypothesis that I find fascinating is the possibility that primates may have learned to use tools before the evolutionary split between human ancestors and great ape ancestors. I believe this would be very well confirmed if someone discovered bands of gorillas or chimps waging a sort of tribal warfare with rival clans. Of course most species are in some way territorial, and it would be hard to differentiate normal territorial behavior and anything that we might consider a form of primitive warfare.