Description
Researchers have revealed that chimpanzees use this social information to form and maintain local traditions. A research collaboration between the Gonzaga University and the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, Netherlands, shows that the way in which chimpanzees groom each other depends on the community to which they belong. At the beginning of the video two chimpanzees engage in the palm-to-palm handclasp with their left arms, then transition to the same style with their right arms. About a minute and a half later, two chimpanzees near the building start handclasping in the same palm-to-palm style. This is Zsabu (the alpha male) and Noel. Palm-to-palm is the most frequently used style in this community. (Filmed by researcher Patrick Mwika at Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage Trust. www.chimfunshi.org.za/)
More information: www.mpg.de/6328635/chimpanzees_social-traditions
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