• @[email protected]OP
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      24 months ago

      The mystery is “why this gesture” and not “are they communicating”

      The hypothesis that’s being put forward is this:

      Apes, they argue, do not inherit specific gestures, but they do inherit the sense that they can use gestures to communicate with other chimpanzees. The animals create new gestures by borrowing — or “recruiting,” in the scientists’ lingo — movements that apes commonly make.

      • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet
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        14 months ago

        Oh okay, that makes more sense. I suppose I should have read the article, but I think they should have let you write the title.

        • @[email protected]OP
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          24 months ago

          They’d probably get less engagement if I did that; headlines that confuse people cause them to comment, which in turn causes Facebook and Reddit to show content to more people.

      • @reddig33
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        14 months ago

        Sounds like humans. Not sure why scientists would think all apes would use the same language. Even giving a middle finger isn’t a universal gesture across our species.