Chimps ‘show and tell’ like humans

Scientists say the interaction in Uganda shows not only that chimp toddlers are as annoying as their human counterparts but that they share a key cognitive attribute.

The show-and-tell behaviour observed in the chimpanzees was originally thought to be uniquely human. Picture: Thinkstock

Parents will empathise. Sutherland the chimpanzee had been minding her own business, having some “me time”, but her daughter, Fiona, had found an interesting leaf. Fiona pushed the leaf relentlessly into her mother’s gaze until eventually, wearily, the mother looked down and acknowledged it. “Yes dear,” she seemed to say. “What a lovely leaf.”

Fiona’s behaviour intrigued researchers because the best explanation they had for what was going on was that the chimpanzee was engaging in “show and tell”, a behaviour that had been thought to be uniquely human.

According to the scientists who spotted this interaction in the wild in Uganda, this tells us more than just that chimpanzee toddlers are as annoying as human ones. It also implies that they share a key cognitive attribute.

“This is so exciting,” Katie Slocombe, a psychology professor from the University of York, said. “This is the first time we have seen evidence of a chimpanzee showing something not because they wanted another chimpanzee to do something about it but just because they wanted them to show interest.”

Fiona had found an object that excited her, albeit mysteriously so, given that the forest was full of leaves, and wanted to share that excitement with someone else. “It had been thought that the motivation to share experiences just for the sake of sharing was a uniquely human attribute,” Ms Slocombe said. “It had also been thought it was an important one. [The theory was that] engaging in ‘joint attention’ facilitated complex communication and co-operation, of the kind that enabled human society. It was identified as a small step that has massive downstream changes.”

The latest observation, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, came from a long-running project filming chimpanzees in Kibale National Park, western Uganda.

“To me it looks like Fiona is saying, ‘Look, look at that, look!’ It is very much like a child showing a new toy, just for the sake of showing - of saying, ‘This is cool!’ And as parents know, the child will keep on showing it until they acknowledge and say, ‘Oh that’s lovely, how nice,” Ms Slocombe said.

- The Times