The older adolescent chimpanzees studied were also more likely to use a combination of different communication signals instead of individual gestures or expressions, especially during aggression scenarios. This was especially the case when the chimpanzees were responding to aggression or were playing, two situations where it is important for them to make clear what they were communicating to avoid risky fallout, the researchers said. However, they also showed that as the chimpanzees got older, they were more likely to combine different communication signals together. The researchers found that chimpanzees consistently used standalone communication signals-such as grunting, arm movements or facial expressions-across all ages and in different situations. Juvenile female Tina combines a whimper vocalization with a mouth-stroke gesture while begging for food from her mother. While previous studies on apes have largely looked at different forms of communication signals in isolation (gestures, vocalizations, facial expressions), the new findings looked at how chimpanzees combined these different forms of communication to see how this developed with age and in varying circumstances. Researchers observed 28 semi-wild chimpanzees, ranging in age from one to 11 years old, at the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage Trust sanctuary in northern Zambia. Their study, which also involved the University of Portsmouth, is published in the journal Animal Behaviour. The researchers say that understanding this "multimodal" form of communicating could shed important light on how communication evolved in humans and our closest ape relatives, and tell us more about how our own language skills emerge. Such combined signals included combining playful open-mouth faces with laughing, touching another chimpanzee while whimpering and baring their teeth while squeaking. The researchers found that this ability develops throughout infancy and adolescence. Psychologists at Durham University found that young chimpanzees combine different communication signals, which may help them be better understood by other chimpanzees in different situations such as playing or fighting.
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