A gorilla at Zoo Atlanta has been caught using a strange cough-sneeze hybrid to summon their keepers.
Chimpanzees and orangutans have the ability to create new vocalizations to get our attention. We can now add a gorilla to that list.
Researchers have dubbed this gorilla equivalent to a human'snough'.
In the '80s and '90s, there was a spotlight on gorilla intelligence due to her ability to communicate with humans using sign language. gorillas have taken it upon themselves to establish unique communication with us on their own terms, even though she was trained and worked hard at it.
The purpose of the'snough' was confirmed by placing eight of the zoo's gorillas in three different situations.
The food and keeper were too far away to see.
When there was a human present with food, the gorillas used the ahem-like'snough' vocalization most to get the keeper's attention.
The call has been found in other zoos as well. There are as many as 33 gorillas housed at 11 different zoos in the US and Canada, and only six have been confirmed using the sound so far.
The team isn't sure if different groups have worked out their own way that this sound works, or if it has spread through the clever primate who are more than capable of learning from each other.
Language can be found in the communications systems of other animals. The idea that non-human primates don't have the right equipment to vocalize has been disproved.
Our evolutionary history and vocal muscles are similar. They have been dismissed as non-vocal learners because of this.
The gorillas didn't use the'snough' to communicate with each other. A growing body of evidence shows that primate are vocal learners and can make new sounds.
The team wrote that evidence of vocal learning and innovation is accumulating for captive apes.
Orangutans can learn to produce voiced utterances and whistles, Chimpanzees can adopt new referential food calls through vocal convergence under social integration, and enculturated apes can produce a limited number of novel utterances
The voices of different humans can be heard by the gorilla.
The ability to produce unique calls is a rare example of complex vocal learning in animals. They all mimic each other.
The gorilla's snough is a unique sound that is not a mimic.
The results show that gorillas can modify their calls to produce a novel sound and that they can modify their caregivers attention status.
These clever souls have been underestimated by us.
The research was published in a peer reviewed journal.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
