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How chimps send social media messages

“It’s as though they have their own social media that allows them to check in through the day.”

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Chimpanzee in Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary, on Ngamba Island, Lake Victoria, Uganda
(Greens and Blues via Shutterstock)

By Ellie Forbes via SWNS

Chimpanzees have their own individual drumming beats which they use to send social media messages across the jungle, scientist have found.

Scientists discovered chimpanzees in Uganda’s Budongo Forest have their own distinctive drumming rhythms - and said the sounds are used for chimp social media.

Some chimps have a regular rhythm like rock and blues drummers, while others have more syncopated or more variable rhythms like jazz.

The animals drum of the roots of rainforest trees with their hands and feet, sending messages that carry over a kilometre through the dense humid forests.

The study shows male chimpanzees have their own signature rhythms – allowing them to send information that reveals who is where, and what they are doing.

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Researchers were able to identify individual chimps by their drumming and said some had beats so fast they could barely see their hands moving.

The research was carried out by the University of St Andrews and published in Animal Behaviour.

“We could often recognize who was drumming when we heard them, and it was a fantastic way to find the different chimpanzees we were looking for – so if we could do it, we were sure they could too," said senior author, Dr. Catherine Hobaiter.

“It’s lovely to finally show how it works.

“One thing that has always been a puzzle is why chimpanzees greet each other but very rarely seem to say goodbye.

“Our results might help to explain this – chimpanzees are rarely really out of contact, even when kilometers apart these long-distance signals allow them to keep in touch with who is where.

“It’s as though they have their own social media that allows them to check in through the day.”

They combine the drums with long-distance calls, called pant-hoots, and different males also drum at different points in the call.

Chimpanzee in Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary, on Ngamba Island, Lake Victoria, Uganda
(Greens and Blues via Shutterstock)

“This really looks like chimp social media," said lead author, Ph.D. student Vesta Eleuteri.

“Indeed, we also found that chimpanzees drum more often when they’re alone or in small groups.

“This means that they drum to know where others are and decide whether to join them or not.

“I was surprised that I was able to recognize who was drumming after just a few weeks in the forest.

“But their drumming rhythms are so distinctive that it’s easy to pick up on them.

“For example, Tristan – the John Bonham (Led Zeppelin) of the forest – makes very fast drums with many evenly separated beats.

“His drumming is so fast that you can barely see his hands.

“Ben, the alpha male, also has a peculiar style: he makes two closely following beats separated by one or two more distant beats.”

The research team now plan to study group differences to check whether there are different drumming "culture" among the different chimpanzee populations.

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