Monkeys Understand Reasons Behind Others’ Actions, Study Finds

A research team, including academics from the University of Warwick, has suggested that monkeys can understand the communicative goals behind others’ actions, a skill previously thought to be exclusive to humans.

Ever since Jane Goodall first observed monkeys exchanging gestures with each other in the 1960s, researchers have debated how great apes like chimpanzees and gorillas communicate.

The research, now published in Biological journalsargues that monkeys use body language to show others their communicative intentions.

Monkeys know what different parts of their bodies are used for, so they can use them as gestures for communication purposes.

So if a baby chimpanzee has his arms outstretched towards his mother’s back, the mother can understand that he wants to be carried, because she knows that she uses her back to carry.

This new theory, the recruitment theory, aims to replace two theories that have had historical influence. The Leipzig theory suggests that great apes learn gestures through repeated interactions, leading to differences between groups. Another theory, the St Andrews theory, argues that these gestures are universal among all great apes, meaning they do not need to be learned.

Now, a team including Dr Richard Moore from the University of Warwick is proposing a new approach. They say monkeys use familiar body parts or actions to communicate.

These gestures are neither taught nor inherited; they arise naturally because all great apes have similar bodies and participate in similar activities.

Dr Moore, an associate professor at the University of Warwick, explains: ‘Imagine a chimpanzee showing another chimpanzee its shoulder to groom, or making a gesture to signal it to come closer.

“These are not random gestures: they are using what they already know about their bodies to get a message across.”

However, unlike humans, apes rely heavily on clear physical cues, such as body movements or gestures, to interpret these intentions. “This theory offers a new perspective on how human language may have evolved,” Dr. Moore said. “We see a link between the gestures used by apes and the earliest forms of communication that may have eventually developed into human language.”

“While this highlights a new continuity in understanding the evolution of language, we also highlight the key difference: humans can convey complex ideas without the need for such obvious physical signals.”

Researchers have compared the phenomenon to a human showing someone a black eye to show them they’ve had a bad day.

The team’s theory also answers a question that has puzzled scientists for years: Why do monkeys of different species and groups use such similar gestures?

The answer, they suggest, lies in the actions and body parts common to all apes, making these gestures easily understandable across species.