chimpanzees appear to consider who they are “talking to” before they call out. Researchers found that wild chimps that spotted a poisonous snake were more likely to make their “alert call” in the presence of a chimp that had not seen the threat. This indicates that the animals “understand the mindset” of others. The insight into the primates’ remarkable intelligence will be published in the journal Current Biology… …These findings, Dr Crockford said, provide an important insight into a factor that may have “kick-started” complex communication. She explained: “Why would I bother to communicate something to you unless I realised that you didn’t already know it?” ”Now we have seen that these chimps, human’s close relatives, seem to recognise ignorance and knowledge in others. And they’re motivated to communicate missing and relevant information to that individual. It’s one of the things that’s been missing from the evolution of language story.” Matthew Cobb, professor of zoology at the University of Manchester, explained that “imagining what another individual is thinking” is a crucial part of human language. “This study gives us some insight into how this amazing ability may have evolved,” he told BBC Nature. ”In the wild, faced with a natural stimulus, our close cousins the chimps alter their communication depending on what other chimps know. It appears that humans aren’t quite so unique, after all.”
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chimpanzees appear to consider who they are “talking to” before they call out.

Researchers found that wild chimps that spotted a poisonous snake were more likely to make their “alert call” in the presence of a chimp that had not seen the threat. This indicates that the animals “understand the mindset” of others. The insight into the primates’ remarkable intelligence will be published in the journal Current Biology…

…These findings, Dr Crockford said, provide an important insight into a factor that may have “kick-started” complex communication. She explained: “Why would I bother to communicate something to you unless I realised that you didn’t already know it?” ”Now we have seen that these chimps, human’s close relatives, seem to recognise ignorance and knowledge in others.

And they’re motivated to communicate missing and relevant information to that individual. It’s one of the things that’s been missing from the evolution of language story.” Matthew Cobb, professor of zoology at the University of Manchester, explained that “imagining what another individual is thinking” is a crucial part of human language.

“This study gives us some insight into how this amazing ability may have evolved,” he told BBC Nature. ”In the wild, faced with a natural stimulus, our close cousins the chimps alter their communication depending on what other chimps know.

It appears that humans aren’t quite so unique, after all.”

Source: BBC

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