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The Adaptive Value Of Complex Socio-Communicative Behavior, Sara A. Skiba

Master of Science in Integrative Biology Theses

Human spoken language represents the most elaborate communication system, however the selection pressures leading to its emergence are still uncertain. Unlike humans, bonobos and chimpanzees do not have language. However, bonobos may have been subjected to similar selection pressures as early hominins, subsequent to their phylogenetic split from chimpanzees roughly 1.5 million years ago. The current study investigated the similarities and differences in sociality and communicative production between bonobos and chimpanzees in captive settings, using 9, 10-minute focal follows for each individual. Analyses revealed a significant positive correlation between social proximity score and total communicative signals produced, as well as …