Chimps and Humans Share Basic Brain Skills Essential for Cooking

A new study has proven that chimpanzees actually have the mental capacity to cook. The study conducted by a pair of scientists out of Harvard and Yale actually found that chimps and humans share some of the basic brain skills needed for cooking. This finding could actually explain a turning point in the story of man kind.

Many aspects of cooking are thought to be unique to just humans, but this may not be the case. 

Researchers believe the clue lies in Pan troglodytes — chimpanzees, human's closest living relative since our common ancestor split into ape and hominid lineages some 13 million years ago. They reported on experiments with two dozen wild-born chimps at the Tchimpounga Sanctuary in the Republic of Congo. Their work appears in the journal Proceedings B of the Royal Society, Britain’s de-facto academy of sciences.

But when and how did humans acquire this skill?

Experiments at a chimp sanctuary suggest a common ancestor imparted these cognitive abilities to apes and humans alike, the study noted. If this is true, it sheds light on how humans evolved to learn how to cook. 

Our ancestors used heat to break down tough fibers and starch, making meat and tubers easier to digest, which broadened their diet. This actually led to a calorie boost, which created the evolution of bigger, energy-hungry brains.

How Could Chimps Learn to Cook?

The scientists conducted two experiments with the chimps. In the first test, a sweet potato slice was placed in a hot pain without butter or oil. The chimps were offered it along with a raw sample. All the chimps preferred the cooked potato. 

Next, they analyzed whether or now the animals understood how the food transformation took place. Scientistts used a fake "cooking device" (a plastic container with a false bottom, concealing a piece of cooked potato), where a slice of raw potato was placed in the top. The lid was replaced and the container shaken in front of the chimps before a cooked piece was removed from the secret chamber.

Scientists distinguished between other containers that did not cook the food in the same way the original device did. 

After the demonstration, the chimps could choose between the two types of containers, not knowing their contents – and opted for the “cooking device” more often than not.

The findings from the last part was even more telling. The chimps were given a piece of raw potato and could choose to eat it right away or carry it to the opposite side to have ti cooked in one of the devices. They vastly chose to have it cooked.

Even further, the chimps were given raw carrots and they all mostly opted to place them in the cooking devices and when given a piece of wood compared to the carrot, they only placed the food in the container, knowing only one was able to be cooked.

Now, we know that chimpanzees of course do not cook, that is not the point. They eat very differently from us and they don't share their food, whereas humans prepare meals for a gathering.

What this does show is that chimps have the same basic cognitive toolkit for cooking.

There is a growing amount of evidence that a common ape-like ancestore gave us these skills, leading to another significant event which was humans mastered fire.