How do primates communicate

Adult male ring-tailed lemurs regularly mark their woodland territories with chemicals produced by scent glands in their wrists. This is similar to dogs, wolves, and cats marking their territories with urine.

In both cases, the scent is recognized as a personal signature. Tamarins and marmosets also use scented urine to mark the gum trees that are important food sources in their territories. In all of these species, scent marking is a way of claiming territory and warning off intruders. Using scent to communicate is not unique to prosimians.

All primates, including humans, do so to some extent. People do not mark territory with scent or battle each other with it, but we do produce odors that may attract or repulse others. Think about the effect you might have on your friends if you did not bathe or shower for several days. Humans have learned to cover up body odors with perfumes and other products. Our cultures tell us that some of these odors are attractive. However, our bodies also produce pheromones , which are chemicals that give off powerful, often subliminal, odors that have effects on the physiology and behavior of others in our species whether they are aware of it or not.

Very importantly, there are different male and female pheromones that play a part in sexual attraction and ovulation regulation. It is likely that all primates produce such pheromones. Sweaty T-Shirts and Human Mate Choice -- effect of subtle chemical signals, or pheromones This link takes you to a video at an external website.

To return here, you must click the "back" button on your browser program. Primatologists refer to this particular use of body language as agonistic displays. Among non-human primates, they are usually sufficient to prevent physical fighting. In fact, physically violent encounters are rare among them. The dominant male in a monkey or ape community can usually prevent major conflicts and keep order by the use of often subtle agonistic displays.

For instance, male baboons flash their eyelids when they are angry and want to intimidate others. If this isn't sufficient in its effect, they open their mouths widely in a manner that looks like human yawning. This is usually the last warning before attacking. Semantic combinations in primate calls. Nature Bar-On, D. Andrews and J. Beck London: Routledge , — Google Scholar.

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Production and comprehension of referential pointing by orangutans. Cartmill, E. Semantics of primate gestures: intentional meanings of orangutan gestures. Crockford, C. Wild chimpanzees inform ignorant group members of danger. Di Bitetti, M. Food-associated calls of tufted capuchin monkeys Cebus apella nigritus are functionally referential signals. Behaviour , — Douglas, P. Pointing and pantomime in wild apes?

Female bonobos use referential and iconic gestures to request genito-genital rubbing. Evans, C. Owings, M. Beecher, and N.

Thompson London: Plenum Press , 99— Fischer, J. Meaning, intention, and inference in primate vocal communication. Font, E. Animals in translation: why there is meaning but probably no message in animal communication. Gavrilov, N. Functional specialization of the primate frontal lobe during cognitive control of vocalizations. Cell Rep. Genty, E. Why do gorillas make sequences of gestures? Graham, K. Bonobo and chimpanzee gestures overlap extensively in meaning.

PLoS Biol. Grice, H. Hobaiter, C. The meanings of chimpanzee gestures. Deictic gesturing in wild chimpanzees Pan troglodytes? Some possible cases. Hockett, C. The origin of speech. Iverson, J. Gesture paves the way for language development. Neural pathways underlying vocal control. Leavens, D. Indexical and referential pointing in chimpanzees Pan troglodytes. Intentionality as measured in the persistence and elaboration of communication by chimpanzees Pan troglodytes. Child Dev. Liebal, K.

B Biol. Whilst rod photoreceptors permit them to see at low light intensities e. Visual signals are an important component of non-human primate behaviour, alone or in combination with vocalisations, scents or touching. Everything from the coat colour of an animal to the spacing between individuals can play an important role in determining behavioural responses. For example, the females of many Old World species, including macaques, baboons and chimpanzees, signal proceptive and receptive sexual behaviour with changes in the size, shape, turgidity and, often, colour of their perianal "sexual" skin Figure 4.

The reason for sexual swellings is not fully understood, but they may be a mechanism by which females signal their receptivity and fertility, to incite male competition and ensure that they get a good-quality father for their offspring. The sexual swelling increases in size as the female approaches the time in her cycle when she is due to ovulate, reaching its peak when the egg is released and she is at her most fertile.

Female macaques also communicate sexual interest by approaching, following, and initiating proximity with, males. Soliciting behaviour in tamarins, and also marmosets according to some researchers, involves rapid tongue-flicking, which is displayed more frequently during the peri-ovulatory period. Tongue-flicking is also seen during agonistic encounters. Intra-group and inter-group agonistic encounters in marmosets often involve the 'tail raised present' behaviour pattern Figure 5.

Figure 5. The common marmoset on the left is exhibiting the tail raised present behaviour pattern, with the tail semi-piloerected, raised and coiled, and the genitals exposed. Figure 6. A young long-tailed macaque exhibits a partial 'fear grimace' or 'fear grin', in which the mouth is open and lips retracted. Figure 7. A female rhesus macaque defends her enclosure against an approaching human with a stare, retracted ears and open mouth. Old World primates use a diversity of facial expressions as well as gestures, athletic displays and body postures.

In the macaques, most visual signals appear to revolve around issues of dominance and submission. For example, an open mouth gesture is a threat, whereas lip-smacking is a submissive or greeting gesture. The seeming casual yawn that exposes the canine teeth is a sign of tension or a threat "look at my teeth". An open-mouth grin is a sign of anxiety or fear and a means of diffusing tension, whereas a stare is a threatening gesture Figures 6 and 7. Compared with the Old World monkeys, the New World monkeys have traditionally been considered to have poorly developed visual signals and to not form the fine facial expressions seen in Old World monkeys.

They do, in fact, have a rich repertoire of visual signals, but these may be less discernable due to their small size Figure 8. Figure 8. A common marmoset staring with bared teeth and ear tufts flattened - these visual patterns can signify fear and submission. Some signals are common to all non-human primates, for example piloerection. Piloerection of the fur makes the individual appear larger than it actually is, and is used in aggressive interactions and can signify alarm and fear Figure 9.

Figure 9. An adult male rhesus macaque male erects his fur in response to an approaching veterinarian. Non-human primates can learn socially through observation of their conspecifics or of other species, including humans. Non-human primates will react not only to the facial expressions, gestures and body postures of conspecifics but also to those of humans, as well as to negligible changes in human clothing. Staff should:. Both New and Old World primate species have well-developed olfactory sensitivity, which for some substances matches or exceeds that of the rat or dog.

The importance of olfactory stimulation in captive environments for non-human primates is often overlooked - many species are likely to benefit from being provided with enrichment items or foods with a variety of different scents e. There is evidence from a number of non-human primate species for olfactory involvement in social behaviours, such as the establishment and maintenance of rank, defence of territory, identification of sexual partners, recognition of group members and communication of reproductive status.

Communication through olfactory means is particularly important for New World monkeys and prosimians, many of which possess odour-producing skin glands and demonstrate conspicuous marking behaviours Figure For example, in the squirrel monkey, hand washing with urine, nasal rubbing and sneezing, back rubbing and anogenital inspection all appear to be associated with olfactory communication. Figure The common marmoset on the left is scent marking, rubbing its anogenital area on the wooden shelf.

Preference tests have revealed that a wide variety of information is coded in the scent marks of marmosets and tamarins, including species, subspecies, sex, individuality, social status, hormonal status and timing of ovulation.

Marking appears to have several functions including the reproductive suppression of subordinate females, advertisement of individual "quality" mate attraction , preparing males to assist in the delivery and care of newborn infants, and territorial defence.

Odours are effective for up to three days after deposition. Taste is one of the most important senses for efficient choice of foods in non-human primates and many consume a diverse diet e.

In general, they show a positive response to sweet sugars to maximise ingestion of beneficial substances and an avoidance response to bitter plant compounds such as alkaloids and tannins to minimise ingestion of substances most likely to be toxic.

Species differences have been found in responsiveness to carbohydrates. Then I spent a long time watching the videos, finding gestures, and coding information about the gestures. Fieldwork is great! Fieldwork and captive experiments complement one another. Sometimes you have excellent days, where the apes are all travelling together, and sit and groom on a log in a clearing while all the infants are playing. Those are great data days.

But sometimes you have a day where it rains and the apes spend all morning in their nests! I think I know what gestures are from when I communicate with people, but how can you decide what counts as a gesture for a non-human animal? A gesture is a body movement arms, legs, head, torso that is performed intentionally in order to communicate something to another individual.

Bonobos raise their arms, flap their legs, shake their heads, thrust their hips, just to name a few gestures. There are silent-visual gestures like waving, audible gestures like clapping, and contact gestures like slapping someone on the back.

These criteria show that the signaller has a goal in mind, something that they want to communicate, and are using gestures to achieve that goal.

What kinds of things do chimpanzees and bonobos gesture about? What have you learned from studying them? Chimpanzees use around seventy gesture types in the wild, and they produce gestures intentionally, aiming to affect the behaviour of the recipient.

Chimpanzee gestures are used to request a variety of behaviour, from begging for food to requesting sex. But chimpanzees are not our only closest living relative — the bonobo is equally related to humans. Comparing the two species offers insight into how gesture evolved.