Parents often tell children not to talk back or interrupt. But both actions can be characteristics of human communication.
The same is true for chimps, even though these primates communicate primarily through gestures instead of spoken words. In the largest-ever data set collected on chimpanzee communication, researchers showed that chimps use a rapid-fire, back-and-forth communication style similar to humans — complete with interruptions, according to a study in Current Biology.
The study focused on gestures, including various hand signals. Scientists observed over 8,500 gestures for 252 chimps from five separate locations in Africa.
They measured when and how turn-taking took place, and noted other conversational patterns, including interruptions. About 14 percent of communications involved two chimps, with at least a two-part exchange, although some conversations extended to seven parts.
Although no chimpanzee gesture dictionary exists, researchers who have spent years observing the primates in the field can identify and isolate ...
