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Chimpanzees blowing raspberries offer first evidence of learned vocal conventions in great ape communication

from Phys.org

Chimpanzees may learn how to use some of their calls from the adults around them, in a surprising parallel with how human children learn words, finds a study from the CNRS Institute of Cognitive Sciences, University of Warwick and Taï Chimpanzee Project.

explained

The chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), commonly abbreviated to chimp, is a medium-sized great ape species found in the forests and savannas of equatorial Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed one. The chimpanzee shares the genus Pan with the bonobo. Evidence from fossils and DNA sequencing shows that the two species are humans' closest living relatives. The chimpanzee is bigger and more robust than the bonobo. It is covered in coarse black hair but has a bare face, fingers, toes, palms of the hands, and soles of the feet.

Chimpanzees primarily eat fruit, but will also consume other plant material, as well as insects and will even hunt smaller monkeys. The species lives in groups which can number over 200 members, although individuals travel and forage in much smaller groups during the day. They live in a strict male-dominated hierarchy, where disputes are generally settled without the need for violence. They will sometimes attack other groups for control of resources and mates. Nearly all chimpanzee populations have been recorded using tools, modifying sticks, rocks, grass and leaves and using them for hunting and acquiring honey, termites, ants, nuts and water. Gestation in the species lasts eight months. The infant is weaned at about three years old but usually maintains a close relationship with its mother for several years more. Chimpanzees communicate with a variety of vocalisations, facial expressions, gestures and body postures.

From Wikipedia: Chimpanzee (CC BY-SA 4.0) ↗
how it works

Researchers compare how often and in what contexts different groups make the same call. If an identical call is used differently between communities, and younger chimps copy those around them, the difference can't come from genes alone and must be passed on socially.

so what

If apes inherit vocal habits culturally, one ingredient of language is far older than humans, shared with a common ancestor some six to seven million years ago. It also shifts how scientists think about animal communication: not just fixed signals, but traditions that can differ from group to group.

fun fact

The Taï forest in Côte d'Ivoire has been home to one of the longest-running wild chimpanzee studies, begun in the late 1970s.

more on this

key facts

Conservation status
endangered
Scientific name
Pan troglodytes
Started
4000000 BC

Facts: Wikidata (CC0)

Illustrative photo · Giles Laurent, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons