A new study disclose that chimpanzees have their signature drumming beats. Researchers can identify distinct chimps by their drumming pattern. Generally, the beats are used for communication with their friends. The drum beats look like chimp social media.
Chimpanzees have their own signature drumming beats to communicate with their friends. According to a new study, these beats are primarily used to send information to friends who are more than 3,280 feet (1 km) away. They have their own social media.
Rainforest trees are held up by enormous roots that create a large flat buttress. Dr. Catherine Hobaiter from the University of St Andrews said chimps use the enormous roots of rainforest trees to carry the sounds of their tapping with their hands and feet through dense, humid forests.
Dr. Catherine said, “If you hit the roots really hard, it resonates and makes this big deep, booming sound that travels through the forest.”
Furthermore, the University of St Andrews study reveals each male chimpanzees has his own individual rhythms. They also combine it with long-distance vocalizations, known as pant-hoots. These rhythms permit them to deliver messages that inform what other chimpanzees are doing, and who is where.
Often scientists can identify different chimpanzees by listening to the pattern of their drumming after just a few weeks in the forest. So if humans can identify, scientists are sure chimps can too. Lead researcher on this study, Vesta Eleuteri identified that some chimpanzees have a regular rhythm like rock and blues drummers. At the same time, others have more different patterns like jazz.
In this way, understanding chimps’ drumming could puzzle out longstanding communication. Wild chimpanzees do not say goodbye when they separate in the forest. However, they greet each other when they meet. If they are able to keep in touch when they are away, they might not need to say goodbye. These long-distance signals help them to check one another’s conditions.
If they want to hide their location, they can hide their signature drumming sound. They can also use a method in which at the same time both their feet hit a tree root.
By what method do chimpanzees learn, shows new study
Scientists researching the Sonso chimpanzee community living in Uganda’s Budongo Forest have been able to understand how the animals teach each other the use of tools. The study started when one 29-year-old alpha male chimpanzee, named Nick, made a moss sponge while he was watched by a dominant adult female, called Nambi.
For the next six days, seven chimps made and used moss sponges. Six of them had monitored the behaviour before adopting it. The seventh chimp was seen to reuse a discontinued moss sponge. Moreover, the scientists recorded a 12-year-old sub-adult male bringing back a discarded leaf sponge and using it.
The researchers said some chimps had beats so quickly that they could not see their hands moving. However, one thing that has always been a question is why chimpanzees greet one another but hardly ever seem to say goodbye. Now this study can help to clarify this. They are rarely out of touch. Even when they are kilometres apart long-distance communication helps them to keep in contact with each other.
Though Michael Wilson from the University of Minnesota is not completely convinced. Moreover, Hobaiter said, “I do not think that chimpanzees, like us, potentially have a sense of rhythmicity, a sense of music, something that touches them on an almost emotional level, in a way that we might have a sense of awe when we hear an amazing drum solo or another kind of dramatic musical sound.”
The chimps combine the drumming rhythm with long-distance calls, that is pant-hoots. Furthermore, different male chimps also drum at different stages in the call. Vesta Eleuteri said, “This really looks like social media.”
Additionally, it seems when chimpanzees are in small groups or alone, they drum more frequently than in other circumstances. It may be concluded from the new study that they drum to understand other chimps’ locations and whether they should join them or not.
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