The researchers say they’ve recorded for the first time that chimpanzees exhibit something of a sort to attract attention and experience sharing. Until now, it was believed that only humans could exhibit such behavior.
The video Than eleven seconds does not seem special at first glance. An adult chimpanzee eats a leaf, but decides to let her mother take a look at it first. Then take care of the paper again.
But the researchers think it’s an advantage that the great ape showed the petal without any specific goal in mind. Animals often point to things, but they usually ask for something. In this case, the great ape just wanted to share the experience.
Sharing for the sake of sharing is seen only as a human quality. “We start with that from the first year of life,” says lead researcher Claudia Wilk of York University. “We love to share the things we’ve come across.”
The scientists want to further investigate situations in which animals want to share experiences with each other. Through the tests they want to investigate how distinct the cognitive processes of the human brain are. They also look for why people feel the need to share experiences so often.
The latest research results have been published in the scientific journal PNAS.
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