Chimpanzee
Communication
There is no
doubt that, like humans, animals can communicate. However, they
don’t go about it in exactly the same way as humans. Chimpanzees,
as well as other animals, communicate vocally but non-verbally,
meaning they make noises that indicate their general mood, but they
don’t use words to communicate exactly how they feel. For a
chimpanzee words are often unnecessary; they can make their
intentions clear without them.
Vocal
communication
Chimpanzees and
humans make vocalizations in situations to give another individual a
message or express an emotion. Not all vocal communication has to
be performed with words. Think of a time when someone is laughing
or crying, people nearby know exactly what the individual is feeling
without a single word being spoken between them. We know that
laughter is normally associated with happiness and feelings of joy
and that crying and whimpering is normally associated with feelings
of sadness. This is the same as in chimpanzees! A chimpanzee will
whimper or cry when they are feeling distressed and laugh when they
feel excitement. When young chimpanzees play they will emit a
breathy laughter, just like you do when you play with your friends
or family. Chimpanzees can recognize each other’s voices just like
you can recognize your friend’s voice on the telephone. Each
chimpanzee makes a unique pant hoot that is used to recognize the
individual, much like how humans have different voices. A
chimpanzee can pant hoot from across the forest and a human can talk
over the phone or from behind a door and the individual, chimpanzee
and human, can be recognized by their sound alone.
Chimpanzees use
over 30 vocalizations in different situations. Look at the list below containing many more
vocalizations and imagine what sounds you would make in those
situations. You can see how similar some of the sounds are to what
you would do in the same situation!
Sound |
Situation |
Wraa |
unusual or dangerous situation; fear |
Arrival Pant Hoot |
Excitement |
Laugh,lip smack, pant |
Enjoyment |
Soft
grunts while foraging or resting |
contact |
Huu |
puzzlement |
soft
bark (cough) |
annoyance |
Scream, Bark |
fear, anger |
Crying |
Distress |
Hoo,
whimper |
distress |
Food
grunt, food aaa call |
Food
Enjoyment |
Non-Vocal
Communications
There are many
messages and emotions shared with facial expressions and simple body
language in both chimpanzees and humans. There are gestures that
are used in non-vocal communication in which contact is made between
individuals’ bodies and there are gestures where no physical contact
is made at all.
Chimpanzees will
hold hands, kiss, pat each other’s backs, and groom with friendly
touches. All of these chimp gestures are seen in humans and also
have the same meaning that humans give them! It is easy to see with
holding hands and kissing in humans, but what about patting backs
and grooming? Often, we will pat the back of another to give them
reassurance. Think of a sporting event where a coach pats the back
of an athlete who has improved or done well, have you ever been in a
situation where your coach pats you on the back because you have
done something right during a game or practice? Did it leave you
feeling good about yourself even though there were no words
exchanged between the two of you? Gestures have a way of conveying
a variety of feelings without having to communicate verbally. We
will also hug or shake hands for reassurance after a figure of
authority upsets us. And, what about grooming? Chimpanzees groom
each other by moving another individual’s hair around and removing
dead pieces of skin, insects, or other particles that may fall into
their hair. Many times young girls will play with each other’s
hair, putting it into different styles. Human adults groom each
other as well; we are always going into the hair salon or barber
shop to get our hair cut and groomed.This is a friendly contact
between individuals just as is seen between chimpanzees. We have
all been on a situation in which a gesture, without any verbal
communication, can mean a thousand words. Look at the pictures
below to see just how similar the touches between chimpanzees are to
touches between humans

The similarity
in gestures between us humans and chimpanzees can also be seen in
such gestures that do not involve bodily contact between
individuals. In chimpanzees, when a lower ranking or subordinate
individual (one who doesn’t have much authority in the group)
approaches a more dominant individual the chimp is crouched down,
presents its rump, or holds out its hand. Humans do some of these
gestures as well. Watch a human as he or she approaches and
individual of much greater authority; they will sometimes hunch
their shoulders and push their head down and look up the other
individual if they feel that they are below the other in status. This human behavior may be difficult to spot without close
observation, however, the gesture of holding out a hand when
approaching is very easy to see. Holding out a hand is a gesture
that we humans commonly use when first meeting an individual or when
greeting an individual of higher rank than ourselves in our
workplace. More often than not, this gesture becomes a touch when
the higher ranked individual shakes the hand that has been offered. As discussed above, this handshake can be viewed as a sign of
reassurance.
We also show the
same behaviors as chimpanzees when we are angry. When chimps are
angry or upset they stand upright, wave their arms around, and throw
rocks, and at times may scream to emphasize their bodily movements. Chimpanzees’ hair stands up on end when they are angry to make them
appear larger than they actually are, this phenomenon is known as piloerection. Similar gestures are made when humans become upset or
angry. When we become upset we usually do not sit quietly with our
hands crossed in our lap. We tend to stand upright and raise our
voice to a scream or yell all while making large gestures with our
arms when we are angry, just like when chimpanzees show their anger.
Chimpanzees also
exhibit small gestures simply by changing their facial expression to
convey a message to another individual. We also express our many of
our feelings with facial expressions. Look at the pictures below to
see how similar our expressions are to chimpanzee expressions!
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Smile:
Chimpanzees show their teeth in an expression that looks
like a smile when nervous. Have you ever found yourself
smiling a big toothy smile when nervous?
|
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Closed mouth
grin: This expression is used to show submission.
Perhaps you have made or have seen someone else make
this face when showing another individual that
everything is alright and they won’t start any trouble. |
|
Relaxed Open
Mouth display: Can you remember making this face the
last time that you laughed at a funny joke? This is used
to show non aggression and is often used as a play face
along with rhythmic breathing much like the expression
made during human laughter. |
|
Pout face: Does
this face remind you of a face you or someone you know
were upset begging for something? This face is made by
chimpanzees after a threat, when begging for something,
and when searching for their mothers. |
It is amazing
how gestures as small as changes in mouth position can give messages
to others in both chimpanzee and human societies!
Message from CAC'ers
While we, the CAC team, were able to
experience the great diversity of ways chimpanzees
communicate, one of the most memorable experiences was being
surrounded by amazingly powerful pant hoots. We heard pant
hoots multiple times before we would even see a chimpanzee.
It is awe inspiring to think that these calls we heard act
like our human voices and that the surrounding groups knew
both which group was calling and where that group was in
relation to the other groups. The CAC team also got to see
a lot of one on one communication between chimpanzees
firsthand. For instance, to get help from a group member one
female chimpanzee with a thorn in her skin merely had to
present the troublesome area to another chimp. The second
chimp obligingly groomed the first to try to alleviate any
problems he might have found. The female could not get
comfortable and kept ‘asking’ other chimps to see if they
could help her. She was very persistent and definitely
determined to get the thorn removed! |
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