Season
- Season 0 1999-07-13
- Season 1 1974-03-03
- Season 2 1974-11-03
- Season 3 1976-01-04
- Season 4 1977-01-05
- Season 5 1978-01-04
- Season 6 1979-01-04
- Season 7 1980-01-15
- Season 8 1981-01-06
- Season 9 1982-01-10
- Season 10 1983-01-18
- Season 11 1984-01-17
- Season 12 1985-01-15
- Season 13 1986-01-21
- Season 14 1987-01-20
- Season 15 1988-01-19
- Season 16 1989-01-17
- Season 17 1990-01-09
- Season 18 1991-01-08
- Season 19 1992-01-14
- Season 20 1993-01-05
- Season 21 1994-01-18
- Season 22 1995-01-08
- Season 23 1995-10-10
- Season 24 1996-10-01
- Season 25 1997-10-07
- Season 26 1998-10-06
- Season 27 1999-10-05
- Season 28 2000-10-24
- Season 29 2001-10-02
- Season 30 2002-09-03
- Season 31 2003-09-30
- Season 32 2004-09-28
- Season 33 2005-09-20
- Season 34 2006-09-05
- Season 35 2007-10-09
- Season 36 2008-10-07
- Season 37 2009-10-06
- Season 38 2010-10-19
- Season 39 2011-09-07
- Season 40 2012-10-10
- Season 41 2013-09-11
- Season 42 2014-09-10
- Season 43 2015-09-16
- Season 44 2016-09-07
- Season 45 2018-01-10
- Season 46 2019-01-02
- Season 47 2020-02-05
- Season 48 2021-01-14
- Season 49 2022-02-02
- Season 50 2023-02-01
- Season 51 2024-01-31
- Season 52 2025-01-22
- Season 53 2026-01-21
Season 53 Episode
- Season 35 Episode 1
- Season 35 Episode 2
- Season 35 Episode 3
- Season 35 Episode 4
- Season 35 Episode 5
- Season 35 Episode 6
- Season 35 Episode 7
- Season 35 Episode 8
- Season 35 Episode 9
- Season 35 Episode 10
- Season 35 Episode 11
- Season 35 Episode 12
- Season 35 Episode 13
- Season 35 Episode 14
- Season 35 Episode 15
- Season 35 Episode 16
- Season 35 Episode 17
NOVA - Season 35 Episode 12 Ape Genius
7.00 55 minutes
At a research site in Fongoli, Senegal, a female chimpanzee breaks off a branch, chews the end to make it sharp, and then uses this rudimentary spear to skewer a tasty bush baby hiding inside a hollow tree. It’s an astonishing breakthrough for primate researchers—the first time anyone has documented a chimpanzee wielding a carefully prepared, preplanned weapon. But it's only the latest in a slew of extraordinary new findings about ape behavior.
The more researchers learn about the great apes—chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans—the more evidence they find of creative intelligence. What, then, is the essential difference between them and us? "Ape Genius," a NOVA-National Geographic special, explores that provocative question and examines research that is illuminating the ape mind. Bit by bit, investigators are finding an explanation for why the non-human great apes never made the breakthrough into a human-style culture that builds on the achievements of previous generations.
