Page 42 - Mammal (DK Eyewitness)

The game of life

It is difficult to imagine an ant or a leech playing. What we humans call
play seems fairly restricted to mammals, with their well-developed senses and
ability to learn and to be intelligent. Play occurs chiefly in young mammals. It
is generally an unserious business, seemingly carried out for its own sake,
with none of the purpose found in adult behavior patterns such as feeding or
Not a natural object, but establishing a territory. Young chimps chase in a rough-and-tumble, badger
the baby orang could be
learning to manipulate cubs roll and frolic on the forest floor, and even baby platypuses waddle
a ripe fruit around, squealing and yelping like puppies. Theories about why young
mammals play are not in short supply. For the individual, it helps to develop
strong muscles and good coordination. For survival, it trains a carnivore in
hunting techniques or a herbivore in detection of and flight from threat. For
social mammals it provides a basis in communication, in the use of sounds
and body posture to send messages of dominance and submission that
coordinate the group. Do adult humans play? Probably, but we use
different words. Sports, hobbies, and pastimes are sometimes
called “play.”

THE CHIMP AND THE CLOTH
This two-year-old male chimp was
allowed to play with a strip of cloth.
He had seen fabrics before, but this
new piece deserved some general
Testing the attention to appreciate its color and gauge
strength of its texture and strength (left) - and, as
the fabric always, to test the faint possibility that it
might be good to eat. Next came a series of
actions to wear the fabric. The chimp watched his
human companions closely while doing this. When the
result got a response from them, usually laughter at the
cloth becoming a “scarf or “hat” (above) or a face cover
(far right), he was encouraged and experimented
further. Later, he turned his attention to details
and began studiously to unpick individual threads
from the fabric (below). Many aspects of future
behavior are seen here, from arm-muscle
strength needed to build a leafy
bed each evening, to the refined
finger skills required when
grooming (p. 44) or feeding on
small food items (p. 49).

Concentrating
to unpick threads

40

(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.