Bonobo communication study has provided new insights into the communication of these large apes. Previously thought to be a trait unique to humans, a new research published in Science revealed that bonobos can combine many calls to form sentences with different meanings.
Understanding the Patterns of Bonobo Speech
In the Congo bush, researchers spent months tracking wild bonobos and recording their vocalizations. They discovered that bonobos blend different cries to create new meanings by using nontrivial compositionality, a crucial aspect of human language.
Important Results of the Study
- The vocalizations of bonobos reveal everyday activity like as eating and traveling, as well as group cooperation.
- Researchers mapped over 700 calls and found at least four cases where call combinations changed meaning.
- The findings suggest that the last common ancestor of humans and bonobos (7–13 million years ago) may have shared similar communication traits.
Implications for the Evolution of Language
The idea that only humans are capable of combining words to form new meanings is called into question by this revelation. Bonobos may be able to demonstrate how human language has changed over millions of years.
Martin Surbeck, an evolutionary scientist at Harvard University, claims that “bonobos truly offer a unique opportunity to understand ourselves.”
A species in danger
Less than 20,000 bonobos remain in the wild in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where habitat degradation and human strife have put them in danger. Scientists emphasize the need of both saving bonobos and comprehending the evolutionary history of humans.
Source: NBC News