Have you ever wondered what chimpanzees talk about in their ape lingo? If so, you're not alone.
A team of researchers spent more than 750 hours observing chimpanzees in a new study. The animals apparently made a particular sound when they were foraging for snacks, but their voices changed even more so when they were on a quest for the trees where a certain type of fruit, reported Discovery.
"Chimpanzees definitely have a very complex communication system that includes a variety of vocalizations, but also facial expressions and gestures," project leader Ammie Kalan told Discovery.
"How much it resembles human language is still a matter of debate," she added, "but at the very least, research shows that chimpanzees use vocalizations in a sophisticated manner, taking into account their social and environmental surroundings."
In the 750 hours of listening the researchers found that the most common thing for chimpanzees to talk about are Nauclea fruits, Discovery reported. When a chimpanzee found a bigger tree with more fruit they spoke in a lower pitch than if they found a smaller tree with less fruit.
After a chimpanzee made this call when it found a fruit-filled tree, its relatives would run to join it.
"I never tried these fruits myself, but they do smell very good in the forest," Kalan told Discovery. "They are also quite big and easy to ingest, and we also know that they have a high energy content, which is important for wild animals."
The study was published in the journal Animal Behavior.
