Social and ecological complexity is associated with gestural repertoire size of wild chimpanzees.

ABSTRACT: Increasing our understanding of primate gestural communication can provide new insights into language evolution. A key question in primate communication is the association between the social relationships of primates and their repertoire of gestures. Such analyses can reveal how primates use their repertoire of gestural communication to maintain their networks of family and friends, much as humans use language to maintain their social networks. In this study we examined the association between the repertoire of gestures (overall, manual and bodily gestures, and gestures of different modalities) and social bonds (presence of reciprocated grooming), coordinated behaviors (travel, resting, co-feeding), and the complexity of ecology (e.g. noise, illumination) and sociality (party size, audienc

SUBMITTER: Roberts SGB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7383666 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature