Hoots and grunts from bonobos show signs of complex communication, researchers say
The peeps, hoots and grunts of wild bonobos, a species of great ape living in the African rainforest, can convey complex thoughts in a way that mirrors some elements of human language, a new study suggests.
The peeps, hoots and grunts of wild bonobos, a species of great ape living in the African rainforest, can convey complex thoughts in a way that mirrors some elements of human language, a new study suggests.
The study says bonobos — humanity’s closest living genetic relative — can combine several types of calls to construct phrases in which one vocalization modifies the meaning of another. This is the first time such behavior has been documented clearly in an animal, the researchers behind the study said.
The research, published Thursday in the journal Science, challenges the prevailing thought that humans are the only species with that ability, which is called nontrivial compositionality and is considered a fundamental building block of human language.
“We would never say that bonobos have language because language is specific to humans. It’s our very special communication system,” said Simon Townsend, a professor at the University of Zurich who studies cognition and is an author of the study. But, “we’re showing that features of language seem to be present in the communication system of bonobos.”
Outside experts said the work was convincing. And because humans and bonobos share a common ancestor, the work could help explain how humans developed their ability to use language in the distant past.
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