The old adage “monkey see, monkey do,” appears to have a bit of truth to it. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) likely watch adults making different vocalization to learn how and when to use those sounds themselves, particularly when they purse their lips to blow “raspberries.” The findings detailed in a study published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) show that the primates’ sounds are not instinctual and set in stone, as previously believed.
Humans learn what words mean from the world around us, and different communities will use different sounds for the same thing. For example, English speakers mimic dogs with “woof,” while French speakers say “ouaf.” When it comes to our primate relatives, biologists generally used to believe that they didn’t learn sounds from one another, and that instead biology dictated their sounds. However, that’s changing with some new research into two groups of Chimpanzees in a couple of west African countries.
Read Full Article: https://www.popsci.com/environment/chimpanzees-blow-raspberries-learn-sounds/
