The results indicate that this form communication, may be the origin of our own language. here s our science correspondent victoria gill. grooming builds bonds of friendship. our closest living relatives. social, intelligent primates that communicate without speaking. and it seems that we humans can tune into this silent gesturing language. researchers who have spent years observing great apes closely in the wild have recorded a whole gesture dictionary dozens of signals, expressions and movements that chimps and bonobos use to communicate. by showing videos of these gestures to volunteers, scientists discovered that more than half the time, people are able to understand the message that a wild chimp or bonobo is trying to convey. here is how a chimpanzee says groom me, please . and this is a bonobo silently demanding food from a companion. some gestures are easier for us
Of our own language. here s our science correspondent victoria gill. grooming builds bonds of friendship. 0ur closest living relatives. social, intelligent primates that communicate without speaking. and it seems that we humans can tune into this silent gesturing language. researchers who have spent years observing great apes closely in the wild have recorded a whole gesture dictionary dozens of signals, expressions and movements that chimps and bonobos use to communicate. by showing videos of these gestures to volunteers, scientists discovered that more than half the time, people are able to understand the message that a wild chimp or bonobo is trying to convey. here is how a chimpanzee says groom me, please . and this is a bonobo silently demanding food from a companion. some gestures are easier for us to understand than others. this display is apparently flirtation. but the fact that we can derive meaning from these gestures suggest they provided a foundation
Assignment demand for food from one bonobo to another. but a big scratch, that s in fencing language for roomy stop there are now dozens of known gestures in the great ape lexicon, each with a particular meaning. by showing videos of these gestures to volunteers, scientists discovered more than half the time people were able to understand the message a wild chimp or bonobo is trying to convey with a signal movement. to convey with a signal movement. ~ , ., , movement. we can be fairly confident movement. we can be fairly confident that movement. we can be fairly confident that this movement. we can be fairly confident that this is - movement. we can be fairly confident that this is a - confident that this is a communication system shared by all great ape species including humans and our last common ancestors with bonobos and chimpanzees probably used quite similar gestures and that these gestures may have then gone under scaffold, the evolution of human gesture and human langu
Become better at interpreting the gestures. become better at interpreting the restures. , ., ., become better at interpreting the restures. , , ., ., , gestures. understood, but what does it tell is about gestures. understood, but what does it tell is about the gestures. understood, but what does it tell is about the origins gestures. understood, but what does it tell is about the origins of- it tell is about the origins of human gestures, do you think? tt gives us more confidence that this is a gestural communication system that our last common ancestor probably would have used. this is kind of a starting point if we are thinking about human gesture and language evolved. we know we are starting with this set of gestures or this gesture ability which is shared with living great apes. taste shared with living great apes. we are looking at some pictures as you are looking at some pictures as you are talking and the stroking of the mouth, for example, means, give me food, and then t
Gestures to volunteers, scientists discovered that more than half the time, people are able to understand the message that a wild chimp or bonobo is trying to convey. here is how a chimpanzee says groom me, please . and this is a bonobo silently demanding food from a companion. some gestures are easier for us to understand than others. this display is apparently flirtation. but the fact that we can derive meaning from these gestures suggest they provided a foundation for our own language. our last common ancestors with bonobos and chimpanzees probably used quite similar gestures. and these gestures may then have gone on to scaffold the evolution of human gesture and human language as we know it now. gorillas, orangutans and other great apes also use some of these same signals. it is something that people who work with these primates tune into every day. gesture is so important to great apes. all of the little ways they need