My favorite paleontology fun fact in recent memory was when capuchin monkeys in Brazil almost caused scientists to completely have to rethink everything we know about human occupation in the american continent.
@wraith-host @friarpants So there's this collection of archeological dig sites in Brazil colloquially collectively known as Pedra Furada. Sometime in the mid 2010's I think (the earliest articles I can find about it are from like 2014-2015), excavations in the Pedra Furada dig sites started turning up clearly artificially made stone flakes resembling early stone age tools
Except that the earliest of these flakes were dated to around 48000 years ago.
This contradicts current scientific consensus that the earliest documented human presence in the american continent corresponds with the Clovis culture, around 14000 to 12000 years ago.
These stone flakes seemed to suggest that human beings had arrived into this continent tens of thousands of years earlier than initially thought, seemingly providing support to several fringe theories that hold that human occupation of the american continent largely predates the Clovis culture.
Until capuchin monkeys in the Serra da Capivara National Park (which overlaps with the Pedra Furada sites) were observed producing similar stone flakes, and not even for deliberate usage as tools.
Turns out capuchin monkeys use rocks to crack open nuts, and sometimes even just smash rocks so that they can lick up the dust residue they leave after they break (for some reason?). And when they do this, the rocks occasionally break into flakes that are virtually indistinguishable in shape from stone-age human tools.
[ID: Comment by wraith-host: I would LOVE to know more! Comment by friarpants: Pleeeeeeease share more... At least a link 😭. Image of stone flakes of different sizes. Three images of capuchin monkeys using stones as bludgeoning instruments. /end ID]
