New research has found that young chimpanzees use a combination of gestures, vocalizations, and facial expressions in a way that mirrors the development of communication in human infants. Psychologists at Durham University discovered that this ability develops throughout infancy and adolescence, and helps young chimpanzees to be better understood by their peers in different situations such as playing or fighting. The study found that these combined signals include playful open-mouth faces with laughing, touching another chimpanzee while whimpering, and baring their teeth while squeaking. The researchers believe that understanding this “multimodal” form of communication could provide important insights into how communication evolved in humans and our closest ape relatives, and could also shed light on how our own language skills emerge.
2023-06-07 06:00:04
Source from phys.org