Friday, July 4, 2014

Chimpanzee Gestures Interpreted

While for many years researchers focused on teaching great apes how to learn our language, through sign or symbols, Dr Catherine Hobaiter from the University of St Andrews in Scotland just published an article in the journal Current Biology. She expands on her research into chimpanzee communication and says that wild chimpanzees are able to communicate very specific messages to one another using specific gestures.
For instance, offering a particular part of the body to another chimpanzee is a request to be groomed; whereas tearing strips from a leaf indicates a chimpanzee is showing sexual interest in another individual.
The study findings are based on the analysis of numerous videos made while the research team was following chimps in Uganda.
While we are not quite ready yet to understand the subtleties of chimpanzee gestures and partake in comprehensive conversations with our next of kin, it is great news.

You can consult the BBC article for more details.

Along the same line, an article "Pantomine in Great Apes", published by Anne E. Russon (Professor of Psychology, Glendon College, York University, Toronto) and Kristin Andrews (York University, Toronto) outlines that wild orangutans can communicate using gestures as well.
Orangutans solicite grooming by initiating grooming with another individual; they pretend to be unable to do something when they need help and like chimpanzees, they teach other individuals how to do something through demonstration.

Why Do Apes Point? (Janni Pedersen, Iowa State University), Par Segerdahi (Uppsala University) and William M. Fields (Great Ape Trust of Iowa), argue that bonobos deliberately use pointing gestures.

Although not related to primates, here are two interesting articles addressing how dogs and elephants understand human gestures and sometimes can use that knowledge to their advantage.

The Scientist : Catch My Drift?

National Geographic: African Elephants Understand Human Gestures


 
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