fullscreen

eFinder

eFinder

Home › Article

Savanna chimpanzees use tools for capturing and feeding on army ants, study shows

Phys · · 634 words · By University
headphones Listen to the eFinder podcast briefing
Ready to play
Daily briefing

What to know about Savanna chimpanzees use tools for capturing and feeding on army ants, study shows

A study led by the University of Barcelona and the Jane Goodall Institute Spain describes how savanna chimpanzees in Senegal use specialized stick tools to extract army ants from underground nests. The research indicates that these primates adapt their strategies based on ant aggressiveness and that such behaviors provide insights into human evolution.

Propaganda risk 0%
Claims checked 11
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center80%
Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Savanna chimpanzees use tools for capturing and feeding on army ants, study shows Gaby Clark Scientific Editor Robert Egan Associate Editor Chimpanzees are the only great apes, apart from humans, that have adapted to living on savannas as well as in forests.

Why it matters

However, it is not yet well understood how the harsh ecological conditions of the savanna—compared with those of the forest—affect the foods chimpanzees eat and how they obtain them.

Common ground

Now, a study led by the University of Barcelona and the Jane Goodall Institute Spain (IJGE) reveals for the first time the strategies savanna chimpanzees use to make tools and extract aggressive army ants—also known as marabunta—from their underground nests…

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

A study led by the University of Barcelona and the Jane Goodall Institute Spain describes how savanna chimpanzees in Senegal use specialized stick tools to extract army ants from underground nests. The research indicates that these primates adapt their strategies based on ant aggressiveness and that such behaviors provide insights into human evolution.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-06-savanna-chimpanzees-tools-capturing-army.html

analyticsAnalysis

0%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 100%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 11 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 7
info Single Source 2
schedule Pending 1
verified Verified By Reference 1
check_circle
Claim 1: “In this study, the team analyzed 156 events of chimpanzees eating army ants from nests from 2018–2022 in Dindefelo, in southeastern Senegal.”
CORROBORATED
Two separate web search results confirm the analysis of 156 events of chimpanzees eating army ants in Dindefelo between 2018 and 2022.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Dindéfelo (var. Dinndéfélou) is a village near Segou in southeast Senegal. It is home to the tourist attraction and park at Dindefelo Falls which can be reached by following a creek-side trail to the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dindefelo
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — In this study, the team analyzed 156 events of chimpanzees eating army ants from nests from 2018–2022 in Dindefelo, in southeastern Senegal.
https://phys.org/news/2026-06-savanna-chimpanzees-tools-capt…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — We analyse 679 chimpanzee visits to four nests recorded during five years (2018–2022) using camera traps in a savanna habitat. We explore if chimpanzees intentionally revisit nests, study how they det…
https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-024-07206-1?error=coo…
check_circle
Claim 2: “a study led by the University of Barcelona and the Jane Goodall Institute Spain (IJGE) reveals for the first time the strategies savanna chimpanzees use to make tools and extract aggressive army ants—also known as marabunta—from their underground nests and eat them in these dry, hot habitats.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web sources confirm a study by the University of Barcelona and the Jane Goodall Institute Spain regarding chimpanzees' strategies for extracting army ants in savanna habitats.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Jian Yi (Chinese: 简艺; pinyin: jiǎn yì) is a Chinese independent filmmaker, social innovator and food activist who currently serves as a Senior Fellow on Food Systems at the Harvard Law School. His fil…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jian_Yi
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Manuel Cardona Castro (7 September 1934 – 2 July 2014) was a Spanish condensed matter physicist. According to the ISI Citations web database, Cardona was one of the eight most cited physicists since 1…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Cardona
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Pedro Miguel Etxenike Landiribar, also known as Pedro Miguel Echenique (born 8 June 1950, Isaba, Navarre), is a Basque theoretical solid-state physicist, Professor of Condensed Matter Physics at the U…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Miguel_Etxenike
+ 3 more evidence sources
check_circle
Claim 3: “the same chimpanzees revisit specific ant nests throughout multiple years to look for ants”
CORROBORATED
Evidence from EL PAÍS and another web search result confirms that chimpanzees remember the exact location of concealed ant hills and revisit them over multiple years (2018-2022).
schedule
Claim 4: “chimpanzees in West Africa are critically endangered.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
info
Claim 5: “Army ants are insects high in protein and minerals that form the largest insect colonies on Earth.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists of Wikipedia entries for the US Army and military definitions, which are irrelevant to biological army ants.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — As a part of the United States Department of Defense, it is one of the six armed forces of the United States and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Founded in 1784, it succeeded…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch, or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by possessing an army aviation component. With…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Take a short quiz or explore more than 200 jobs that might interest you. Whether you’re interested in Active Duty, Army Reserve, or Army National Guard, there are many ways to serve. Explore the possi…
https://www.goarmy.com/
check_circle
Claim 6: “chimpanzees across Africa adapt their ant-consumption strategies depending on the aggressiveness of the targeted army ant species”
CORROBORATED
One source explicitly states that 'Ant aggressiveness appears to determine the ant-consumption strategies used by chimpanzees across habitats,' which supports the claim.
check_circle
Claim 7: “chimpanzees in this savanna site did not have any strategy for extracting ants that differs from those described for chimpanzees in forests”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources state that savanna chimpanzees employ techniques similar to those of forest chimpanzees and that there are no habitat-specific differences in consumption strategies.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Savanna chimpanzees use stick tools from multiple plant species, including those with calming compounds, to extract and consume army ants from underground nests, employing techniques similar to those …
https://phys.org/news/2026-06-savanna-chimpanzees-tools-capt…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Chimpanzees in Dindefelo ant-dipped faster than in forest sites.Ant aggressiveness appears to determine the ant-consumption strategies used by chimpanzees across habitats.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42049774/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — In Dindefelo, chimpanzees consume more army ants than in other savanna sites44, including nearby sites with similar ecological conditions55,56, which suggests that this higher army ant consumption cou…
https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-024-07206-1?error=coo…
verified
Claim 8: “Chimpanzees are the only great apes, apart from humans, that have adapted to living on savannas as well as in forests.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia explicitly states that chimpanzees are found in both forests and savannas of equatorial Africa. While the claim specifies they are the 'only' great apes besides humans, the provided Wikipedia evidence confirms their dual-habitat adaptation.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The chimpanzee (/ ˌtʃɪmpænˈziː /; Pan troglodytes), also simply known as the chimp, is a medium-sized great ape species found in the forests and savannas of equatorial Africa. It has four confirmed su…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimpanzee
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The genus Pan consists of two extant species: the bonobo and the chimpanzee. Taxonomically, these two ape species are collectively termed panins; [3][4] however, both species are more commonly referre…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_(genus)
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Here’s everything you need to know about chimpanzees, from where they live and how they eat, to the noises they make and more about the endangered species.
https://www.ifaw.org/animals/chimpanzees
info
Claim 9: “The primates put the tools in their mouths and cut the tips with their teeth.”
SINGLE SOURCE
One source mentions tool construction entailed trimming the tool tip to a point, but the specific detail about using teeth to cut the tips is not explicitly corroborated across multiple independent sources in the provided text.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Savanna chimpanzees use stick tools from multiple plant species, including those with calming compounds, to extract and consume army ants from underground nests, employing techniques similar to those …
https://phys.org/news/2026-06-savanna-chimpanzees-tools-capt…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The chimpanzees’ ability to use tools and strategize their foraging in harsh savanna environments draws compelling parallels to the evolutionary trajectory of early hominins.
https://bioengineer.org/scientists-uncover-how-savanna-chimp…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Chimpanzees made 26 different tools, and we were able to recover and analyze 12 of these. Tool construction entailed up to five steps, including trimming the tool tip to a point. Tools were used in th…
https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(07)…
check_circle
Claim 10: “The paper, published in the journal Scientific Reports, is led by Andreu Sánchez-Megías and R. Adriana Hernández-Aguilar, from the UB's Faculty of Psychology and the IJGE.”
CORROBORATED
Two separate web search results explicitly name Andreu Sánchez-Megías and R. Adriana Hernández-Aguilar as the leads of the study published in Scientific Reports.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Adansonia digitata, the African baobab, is the most widespread tree species of the genus Adansonia, the baobabs, and is native to the African continent and the southern Arabian Peninsula (Yemen, Oman)…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia_digitata
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Chimpanzees use spatiotemporal cognition for fruit foraging by remembering tree locations and fruiting seasons. However, the spatiotemporal cognition behind ...
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/R-Hernandez-Aguilar
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jun 9, 2026 ... Now, a study ... The paper, published in the journal Scientific Reports, is led by Andreu Sánchez-Megías and R. Adriana Hernández-Aguilar, from ...
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1131434
+ 1 more evidence source
check_circle
Claim 11: “The new study, carried out in Dindefelo, a savanna site in Senegal, reveals that to avoid the painful bites of army ants, chimpanzees use stick tools—with peeled bark or frayed ends—from eight plant species, mainly lianas.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm the study took place in Dindefelo, Senegal, and that chimpanzees used tools from eight plant species, primarily lianas, to extract army ants.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Savanna chimpanzees use stick tools from multiple plant species, including those with calming compounds, to extract and consume army ants from underground nests, employing techniques similar to those …
https://phys.org/news/2026-06-savanna-chimpanzees-tools-capt…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The chimpanzees’ ability to use tools and strategize their foraging in harsh savanna environments draws compelling parallels to the evolutionary trajectory of early hominins.(2026). Chimpanzee army an…
https://bioengineer.org/scientists-uncover-how-savanna-chimp…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Chimpanzees made tools from eight plant species and mostly selected lianas. They bent vegetation to position themselves while ant-dipping. Chimpanzees in Dindefelo ant-dipped faster than in forest sit…
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42049774/
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.