Age differences in bonobo (Pan paniscus) multimodal communication signals
Elizabeth Beachem1, Caleb Ghione2, Halena Soto3
1Department of Integrative and Evolutionary Biology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. beachem@usc.edu.
Animal Cognition
|May 19, 2025
Summary
Younger bonobos use more multimodal communication signals, shifting to unimodal signals as they age. Contexts like play and social conflict increase multimodal signal use in bonobos.
Area of Science:
- Primate communication
- Animal behavior
- Developmental biology
Background:
- Human communication shares features with great apes, including multimodal signals (vocalizations, gestures, facial expressions).
- Communication signals can be unimodal (single modality) or multimodal (multiple modalities simultaneously).
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine age-related differences in bonobo (Pan paniscus) unimodal and multimodal communication signals.
- To investigate the influence of behavioral context on signal modality in bonobos.
Main Methods:
- Focal observations of 12 captive bonobos (6 months to 44 years old) across various behavioral contexts.
- Systematic assessment of all vocalizations, gestures, facial expressions, and multimodal combinations.
- Statistical analysis of age and context effects on signal type usage.
Main Results:
- All bonobos produced multimodal signals, but unimodal signals were more frequent overall.
- Younger bonobos produced significantly more multimodal signals than older individuals.
- Multimodal signal use increased in agonistic, play, and sexual contexts.
Conclusions:
- Bonobos exhibit a developmental shift from multimodal to unimodal communication signals with age.
- Behavioral context significantly influences modality choice, with multimodal signals prevalent in high-risk/high-reward situations.
- This study provides insights into primate communication patterns and developmental trajectories.
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