A new study found that chimpanzees have the ability to hunt for food by communicating with gestures. Results of this research show undeniable evidence that primates are able to direct actions by using gestures.
Researchers from the Georgia State University Language Research Center, the University of Chester and University of Stirling led by Dr. Charles Menzel created an experiment that would require coordination among the chimpanzee and a human. Their goal was to find hidden food in a large outdoor area. The human had no idea where the food was hidden and the chimps will guide the human by using gestures like pointing.
"It allows the chimpanzees to communicate information in the manner of their choosing, but also requires them to initiate and to persist in communication," Menzel said in a press release.
"The chimpanzees used gestures to recruit the assistance of an otherwise uninformed person and to direct the person to hidden objects 10 or more meters away. Because of the openness of this paradigm, the findings illustrate the high level of intentionality chimpanzees are capable of, including their use of directional gestures. This study adds to our understanding of how well chimpanzees can remember and communicate about their environment," he added.
Dr. Anna Roberts, co-author of the study from the University of Chester, believes that this experiment is able to reveal an "important building block in the evolution of language."
In earlier studies, the researchers found out that both wild and captive chimpanzees have use gestures to communicate but this human-chimp experiment highlighted that chimpanzees have more complex communication and mental abilities.
The researchers believe that this is the first study to experiment on the chimpanzees' ability to hunt for food in which they were seen using gestures such as pointing.
The study was published in the Jan. 16 issue of Nature Communications.
