Chimpanzees and Humans Share Similar Conversational Gestures

Researchers from the University of St Andrews, Fife, have discovered that chimpanzees exhibit similar conversational patterns to humans, including the timing of responses. The study, which is the largest ever of its kind, analyzed over 8,500 gestures from 252 individual chimpanzees across five wild communities in East Africa. It found that chimps leave gaps before responding to each other, sometimes interrupting more than a second-and-a-half before the other finished gesturing or responding up to eight-and-a-half seconds later.

These patterns, observed in natural settings, allowed the chimpanzees to express a wide range of behaviors. Small differences in conversation timings were noted between different chimpanzee groups. The findings suggest that the structure of human conversation may not be unique and could help scientists understand the evolutionary origins of human communication.