HOW CHIMP CHAT WAS DECIPHERED
From leaf-nibbling to stamping, the finer points of ape gestures revealed
WORDSALICE LIPSCOMBE-SOUTHWELL
DID YOU KNOW? Washoe the chimp was the first non-human to learn how to communicate using American sign language
Chimpanzees are social creatures and live in large groups. They communicate using a form of sign language
© Alamy
For the first time ever, researchers managed to decipher what chimpanzee gestures mean. Scientists figured out what’s behind 66 gestures, providing an insight into chimp society. Psychologists at the University of St Andrews spent over two years studying 80 chimpanzees from the Sonso community in Uganda’s Budongo Forest. “It has been known for over 30 years that chimpanzees communicate in this way,” explained Professor Richard Byrne. “But nobody has attempted to answer the obvious question: what are these apes actually trying to say?”