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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 14, 2025

Assessment of Social Cognition in Non-human Primates Using a Network of Computerized Automated Learning Device ALDM Test Systems
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Chimpanzees communicate to coordinate a cultural practice.

Zoë Goldsborough1,2,3, Anne Marijke Schel1, Edwin J C van Leeuwen1,4,5

  • 1Department for the Ecology of Animal Societies, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Bücklestraße 5a, Konstanz, 78467, Germany.

Proceedings. Biological Sciences
|January 18, 2023
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Chimpanzees use communication, not just physical shaping, to coordinate social grooming practices. This study reveals flexible interactional strategies in chimpanzee culture, suggesting deep evolutionary roots for communication and culture interplay.

Keywords:
Pan troglodytescommunicationcoordinationculturegrooming handclasp

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Area of Science:

  • Primatology
  • Animal Behavior
  • Cognitive Ethology

Background:

  • Human culture relies on communication, but its role in animal cultural practices is understudied.
  • Grooming handclasp (GHC) is a chimpanzee socio-cultural behavior requiring coordination.
  • Previous research suggested GHC initiations were primarily due to behavioral shaping.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if chimpanzees use communication to initiate and coordinate cultural practices like GHC.
  • To analyze the methods chimpanzees use to achieve coordination during GHC interactions.

Main Methods:

  • Frame-by-frame analysis of grooming handclasp (GHC) interactions in chimpanzees.
  • Matched-control methodology to differentiate communication from physical shaping.
  • Longitudinal approach to examine GHC initiation patterns in different dyads.

Main Results:

  • Chimpanzees utilize gestural communication (44%) and physical shaping (22%) to initiate GHC.
  • A significant portion of GHC initiations (34%) were achieved through synchronized action.
  • Communication frequency in GHC initiations varied with dyad experience and relationship (e.g., experienced vs. mother-offspring).

Conclusions:

  • This study provides the first evidence of chimpanzees communicating to coordinate a cultural practice.
  • Chimpanzees exhibit interactional flexibility in socio-cultural behaviors.
  • The findings suggest that the interplay between communication and culture may have deep evolutionary origins.