Abstract
Referential and iconic gesturing provide a means to flexibly and intentionally share information about specific entities, locations, or goals. The extent to which nonhuman primates use such gestures is therefore of special interest for understanding the evolution of human language. Here, we describe novel observations of wild female bonobos (Pan paniscus) using referential and potentially iconic gestures to initiate genito-genital (GG) rubbing, which serves important functions in reducing social tension and facilitating cooperation. We collected data from a habituated community of bonobos at Luikotale, DRC, and analysed n = 138 independent gesture bouts made by n = 11 females. Gestures were coded in real time or from video. In addition to meeting the criteria for intentionality, in form and function these gestures resemble pointing and pantomime–two hallmarks of human communication–in the ways in which they indicated the relevant body part or action involved in the goal of GG rubbing. Moreover, the gestures led to GG rubbing in 83.3% of gesture bouts, which in turn increased tolerance in feeding contexts between the participants. We discuss how biologically relevant contexts in which individuals are motivated to cooperate may facilitate the emergence of language precursors to enhance communication in wild apes.
Highlights
Humans use pointing and pantomime to communicate flexibly about objects and events either immediately present or distant in time or space, and with others who are motivated to understand their communicative intentions
We describe two novel gestures used by wild female bonobos: a form of pointing[28,29], termed foot-pointing, through which females refer to their sexual swellings, and a form of pantomime[30], termed hip shimmy, that incorporates the action involved in genito-genital rubbing and is potentially iconic
Of the gestural solicitations that occurred in feeding contexts (n = 1 35), signallers and recipients were more likely to co-feed within close proximity on the same resource following positive (66.1%, n = 7 4) compared with negative (34.8%, n = 8 ) responses to gestural solicitations (GLMM, estimate ± SE = 1.30 ± 0.489, P = 0.008, see Supplementary Table 3). These results provide evidence that wild female bonobos at Luikotale use a referential gesture and a potentially iconic gesture to communicate their intention to engage in GG rubbing with other females and to induce behavioural coordination with recipients
Summary
Humans use pointing and pantomime to communicate flexibly about objects and events either immediately present or distant in time or space, and with others who are motivated to understand their communicative intentions. We describe two novel gestures used by wild female bonobos: a form of pointing[28,29], termed foot-pointing, through which females refer to their sexual swellings, and a form of pantomime[30], termed hip shimmy, that incorporates the action involved in genito-genital rubbing and is potentially iconic. GG rubbing in bonobos differs from female-female genital contacts that are occasionally observed in other primates, both in the frequency of its occurrence and in the important functions to which it has been linked. These functions include facilitating the integration of newly immigrant females into social groups[33], increasing social standing[34], regulating social tension[35], and promoting cooperation[36] especially in feeding contexts. Given the varied functions of GG rubbing, innovations that enhance a signaller’s ability to request GG rubbing, or that influence the likelihood that receivers will coordinate their behaviour with the signaller, may have important fitness implications for female bonobos
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