Wilke, Claudia, Lahiff, Nicole J, Sabbi, Kris H et al. (3 more authors) (2022) Declarative referential gesturing in a wild chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. e2206486119. ISSN 1091-6490
Abstract
Humans are argued to be unique in their ability and motivation to share attention with others about external entities-sharing attention for sharing's sake. Indeed, in humans, using referential gestures declaratively to direct the attention of others toward external objects and events emerges in the first year of life. In contrast, wild great apes seldom use referential gestures, and when they do, it seems to be exclusively for imperative purposes. This apparent species difference has fueled the argument that the motivation and ability to share attention with others is a human-specific trait with important downstream consequences for the evolution of our complex cognition [M. Tomasello, Becoming Human (2019)]. Here, we report evidence of a wild ape showing a conspecific an item of interest. We provide video evidence of an adult female chimpanzee, Fiona, showing a leaf to her mother, Sutherland, in the context of leaf grooming in Kibale Forest, Uganda. We use a dataset of 84 similar leaf-grooming events to explore alternative explanations for the behavior, including food sharing and initiating dyadic grooming or playing. Our observations suggest that in highly specific social conditions, wild chimpanzees, like humans, may use referential showing gestures to direct others' attention to objects simply for the sake of sharing. The difference between humans and our closest living relatives in this regard may be quantitative rather than qualitative, with ramifications for our understanding of the evolution of human social cognition.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 the Author(s). |
Keywords: | Female,Humans,Animals,Pan troglodytes,Gestures,Animal Communication,Hominidae,Mothers |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Psychology (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 25 Nov 2022 08:50 |
Last Modified: | 17 Oct 2024 08:52 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2206486119 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1073/pnas.2206486119 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:193608 |
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Description: Wilke et al Declarative Showing PNAS 2022
Licence: CC-BY 2.5