There Are 'Too Much Talker' Chimpanzees Who Talk for 10 Minutes After Listening for 5 Seconds...

First Discovery of Communication Method Very Similar to Humans
"Communication Styles of Humans and Chimpanzees, Evolutionary Similarities"

The 'communication' methods of wild chimpanzees have been found to be very similar to those of humans. Like humans, they quickly exchange 'conversations' with each other, and some chimpanzees were observed to keep talking without waiting for their turn to speak. In other words, they know how to chit-chat much like humans do. This means that chimpanzees also have chatterboxes, or 'too much talkers,' a nickname famously associated with Park Chan-ho.

On the 23rd (local time), the BBC reported that Professor Cat Hobaiter of the University of St Andrews in the UK recently published a report on wild chimpanzee observations in the international journal Current Biology.

Professor Hobaiter told the media, "This discovery suggests an evolutionary similarity between humans and chimpanzees in face-to-face conversational communication." In other words, the method of communicating by looking at each other's faces and taking turns in conversation may not be a uniquely human ability but something shared across primates.

A group of chimpanzees. The photo is not related to any specific expression in the article. [Image source=Pixabay]

According to Professor Hobaiter, human conversational style is very unique even among animals. Humans take turns in conversation, and the time it takes to switch turns is only about 200 milliseconds (a millisecond is one-thousandth of a second).

However, recent observations of wild chimpanzees revealed communication patterns with speeds similar to humans within chimpanzee groups. Professor Hobaiter explained, "The timing of conversations between chimpanzees and humans was really close," adding, "The intervals between conversations ranged from about 1600 to 8600 milliseconds."

The reason chimpanzees respond more slowly in conversation than humans is likely because they still live in natural environments. Since they express their thoughts not only through speech but also gestures, it takes longer to complete a single conversational turn compared to modern humans.

Additionally, some chimpanzees were observed to 'chatter' like humans. That is, they interrupt the order by speaking before the other finishes their turn.

The research team believes that through these various conversational patterns, chimpanzees have avoided conflicts and cooperated with each other. They stated, "They can reach agreements through brief gesture exchanges," and emphasized, "By studying the communication methods of other primates, our distant relatives, we can more fully understand why humans have adopted the communication styles they use today."