US EditionFive-Year Study Suggests Chimpanzees Strike Stones Against Trees as Form of Communication
- Behavioral biologists conducted a five-year study in a Guinea-Bissau nature reserve documenting wild chimpanzees striking stones against trees in 2025.
- The study arose from observations of male chimpanzees producing sounds by hitting stones on tree trunks, which might serve as a communication form.
- Researchers recorded that loud pant-hoots precede these stone strikes, resulting in stone piles and suggesting a socially learned behavior called stone-assisted drumming.
- Lead author Sem van Loon explained that the sound produced when a stone hits a tree can travel effectively through thick forests, suggesting this behavior may serve purposes like long-range signaling or showing dominance.
- The findings imply that chimpanzee cultural behaviors extend beyond humans and should be considered in conservation efforts due to their role in communication.
12 Articles
12 Articles
What the hidden rhythms of orangutan calls can tell us about language – new research
Don Mammoser/ShutterstockIn the dense forests of Indonesia, you can hear strange and haunting sounds. At first, these calls may seem like a random collection of noises – but my rhythmic analyses reveal a different story. Those noises are the calls of Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii), used to warn others about the presence of predators. Orangutans belong to our animal family – we’re both great apes. That means we share a common ancestor – a spe…
Five-year study suggests chimpanzees strike stones against trees as form of communication
A recent study by behavioral biologists from Wageningen University & Research and the German Primate Research Center has uncovered a remarkable phenomenon among wild chimpanzees in West Africa: the use of stones to produce sound, presumably as a form of communication.
New Research Reveals That Chimpanzees Are Capable of Complex Communication – And We’re Finally Listening
Wild chimpanzees change the meaning of individual calls by combining them in different ways, a behavior that reflects how humans use language to create meaning through combining words. Humans are the only species known to use full language, which involves combining sounds into words and words into structured sentences that convey infinite meanings. This process [...]
Chimpanzees hit with stones possibly to communicate – The Observatorial
Researchers They have discovered a notable phenomenon among the wild chimpanzees of West Africa: the use of stones to produce sound, presumably as a form of communication. During a five-year field study, Bologgos of the behavior of the University of Wageningen and the German Primates Research Center gathered video images in five different places within […]
Bonobos combine calls in ways that resemble human language
Mongabay reported Bonobos, one of humanity’s closest relatives, appear to string together vocal calls in ways that mirror a key feature of the human language, a new study carried out in the forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has found. While bonobos (Pan paniscus) produce grunts, peeps, whistles and hoots, they also combine these calls to create new meanings, researchers found, suggesting they may share a trait once deemed uniquely…
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