Grant bolsters African chimpanzee study

ST ANDREWS University's groundbreaking study of wild chimpanzees, which aims to discover more about the origins of human intelligence, has been boosted by a Leverhulme Trust grant of Pounds 87,000. Psychology research fellow Nadia Corp will spend two years in Tanzania recording chimpanzee behaviour, with the results being analysed as part of ongoing research by Richard Byrne. Professor Byrne's previous work with mountain gorillas has shown that they have elaborate and deft skills in foraging for plants. The new study aims to find out whether chimpanzees have similar skills, and to what extent the young animals learn from theirmothers.