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Some monkey species unintentionally produce sharp-edged flakes

Stone tools may be by-products of using percussion tools

An international team of researchers has uncovered a new stone tool assemblage produced by yellow-breasted capuchins (Sapajus xanthosternos) in Fazenda Matos, Brazil, providing a fascinating possible window into the origins of stone tool technology in human evolution. Their findings reveal that primates, through everyday nut cracking behaviors, unintentionally produce sharp-edged flakes – a hallmark of early human stone tool assemblages.

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© Waldney Pereira Martins