Chimpanzees can show good manners – unlike some politicians
Chimps often take turns to send a message when communicating using hand gestures but, like humans, they sometimes interrupt each other too
Chimpanzees have a bit of a reputation – among some humans at least – for being rather chaotic, with lots of shrieking and running around. However, according to a new study, they can actually be quite polite when ‘talking’ to each other, using their own form of sign language.
The researchers, who analysed more than 8,500 gestures made by some 250 individuals in the wild, found they typically take turns to speak to one other in much the same way as humans do. This enables effective communication about matters such as making an agreement about where to mutually groom each other, a discussion that can be completed in “just a few short gesture exchanges”.
However, for those thinking the chimps could teach certain humans – with no participants in recent general election TV debates in mind at all – some manners, we have bad news. For, as Professor Cat Hobaiter, a primatologist at St Andrews, revealed, “just like us, the chimpanzee sometimes... interrupted each other midway through a gesture.”
So it turns out that politicians aren’t alone in talking over each other when the stakes are high.
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