Hand gestures, such as a high five, peace sign, or thumbs-up, are nonverbal ways humans can express themselves. Sometimes people also create their own hand signals to share an inside joke or secret message. According to a new study, some of our closest relatives also use private signs.
Chimpanzees convey messages using hand gestures instead of spoken language. Scientists have translated about 80 of these gestures, but they recently discovered a new one while studying a mother-daughter pair of chimps living in Kibale National Park in Uganda. They noticed that Lindsay, the daughter, would put one hand over her mother’s eye when she wanted to climb on her back and go for a ride. Researchers saw other chimps doing the hand-on-eye motion on occasion, but Lindsay and her mother, Beryl,…
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The Week Junior US (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 253