Wild Chimps Language Translated

Wild chimp language translated
July 4, 2014 02:40

Dr Catherine Hobaiter from the University of St Andrews explains her findings and translates one of the chimps' gestures
By Victoria Gill

Science reporter, BBC News

Researchers say they have translated the meaning of gestures that wild chimpanzees use to communicate.

They say wild chimps communicate 19 specific messages to one another with a "lexicon" of 66 gestures.

The scientists discovered this by following and filming communities of chimps in Uganda, and examining more than 5,000 incidents of these meaningful exchanges.

The research is published in the journal Current Biology.

Dr Catherine Hobaiter, who led the research, said that this was the only form of intentional communication to be recorded in the animal kingdom.

Only humans and chimps, she said, had a system of communication where they deliberately sent a message to another individual.

"That's what's so amazing about chimp gestures," she told BBC News.

"They're the only thing that looks like human language in that respect."

Shout or signal?


Although previous research has revealed that apes and monkeys can understand complex information from another animal's call, the animals do not appear to use their voices intentionally to communicate messages.

This was a crucial difference between calls and gestures, Dr Hobaiter said.

"It's a bit like if you pick up a hot cup of coffee and you scream and blow on your fingers," she said.

"I can understand from that that the coffee was hot, but you didn't necessarily intend to communicate that to me."

Subtle signals

Some of the chimps' gestures, the researchers say, are unambiguous - used consistently to convey one meaning.

Leaf clipping, for example, where a chimp very obviously takes small bites from leaves is used only to elicit sexual attention.

Many others, though, appear to be ambiguous. A grab, for example, is used for: "Stop that," "Climb on me," and "Move away."

Although many are very subtle, some of the footage captured by the researchers shows very clearly what the chimps mean to convey.


Chimps will check to see if they have the attention of the animal with which they wish to communicate
In one clip, a mother presents her foot to her whimpering offspring, signalling: "Climb on me." The youngster immediately jumps on to its mother's back and they travel off together.

"The big message [from this study]

is that there is another species out there that is meaningful in its communication, so that's not unique to humans," said Dr Hobaiter.

"I don't think we're quite as set apart as we would perhaps like to think we are.

"But then chimps are more closely related to us than they are to the rest of the great apes, so it makes sense that we are incredibly similar to them in many ways."

Dr Susanne Shultz, an evolutionary biologist from the University of Manchester, said the study was commendable in seeking to fill the gaps in our knowledge of the evolution of human language. But, she added, the results were "a little disappointing".

"The vagueness of the gesture meanings suggest either that the chimps have little to communicate, or we are still missing a lot of the information contained in their gestures and actions," she said.

"Moreover, the meanings seem to not go beyond what other less sophisticated animals convey with non-verbal communication.

"So, it seems the gulf remains."

Source:BBC © 2014

How To Get Rid Of Dart Spot On The Face

Dark spots, patches and other marks on the face can be embarrassing at times and may even lead to a low self esteem.

Dark spots may be due to excess secretion of melanin on the skin, over exposure to the sun, hormone imbalance, pregnancy, certain medications, vitamin deficiencies, lack of sleep and too much stress and so on.

Fortunately, there are many simple remedies that may help reduce the appearance of spots and other blemishes on your face. Below are some remedies to clear those annoying spots.

1. Take a shower: When you are in the shower, take the shower head and blast it in your face, this will rinse out any impurities. Washing your face also works fine.

However, this should not be done too often, as it can break the fine capillaries on your face. Also, do not blast the water on the skin directly under your eyes as this area is too delicate to withstand such force.


2. Steam: All you need do is boil a kettle of water and carefully pour the boiling water into a bowl. Hold your head over the bowl and enclose your head and the bowl to trap steam. Let the steam rise up and settle over your face, it's like a mini sauna. The steaming will open your spots.

Do not place your face too close to the water or steam as steam can burn just as easily as hot water.


3. Exfoliate: Get a good quality and reliable spot exfoliator. Exfoliate once in the morning and once in the evening.

4. Use Cream: You could make a homemade cream using yogurt.

Here's how to prepare it:

Choose plain yogurt.
Add 2 tablespoons of yogurt to a small container.
Add lime or lemon juice. Use 2 or 3 to get rid of the spots, and squeeze them as hard as you can.
Mix them both. Now you are done.
This should be used before you shower or before bedtime.

NOTE: Avoid picking spots as they live you with dark spots that could last a life time.