Emotionality and intentionality in bonobo playful communication
Elisa Demuru1, Pier F Ferrari, Elisabetta Palagi
1Dipartimento di Bioscienze, Università di Parma, Parma, Italy, elisabetta.palagi@unipi.it.
Animal Cognition
|September 11, 2014
Summary
Bonobos use distinct facial expressions and gestures during play, with signal use influenced by social context and receiver attention. These findings shed light on the intentionality and emotionality of great ape communication.
Area of Science:
- Primatology
- Ethology
- Animal Communication
Background:
- Great apes possess complex communication systems for emotions and intentions.
- Facial expressions and gestures serve distinct roles in conveying emotional and intentional signals.
- Playful contexts are crucial for developing and understanding communicative patterns.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the production of playful facial expressions and gestures in bonobos (Pan paniscus).
- To understand how these signals are modified throughout ontogeny during play.
- To explore the dichotomy between intentional and emotional signals in a tolerant ape species.
Main Methods:
- Observational study of bonobo social play.
- Analysis of the frequency and context of play faces and gestures.
- Comparison of signal use in dyadic versus polyadic play sessions.
Main Results:
- Play faces and gestures were more frequent during physically interactive play and when receivers were attentive.
- Gestures were more common in dyadic interactions, suggesting selective use.
- Play faces were context-specific, conveying unambiguous positive messages, and used broadly regardless of group size.
Conclusions:
- Bonobo signal production during play is strategically influenced by social context and receiver presence.
- Differences in gesture and play face usage highlight variations in emotionality and intentionality.
- Play faces are versatile signals suitable for various social play scenarios.
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