Female monkeys 'chat' more than male monkeys

03december2008
Source: roehampton.ac.uk
British scientists have discovered that female monkeys communicate a lot more than males. They discovered this in a study with macaques monkeys on the island Cayo Santiago off Puerto Rico.
Over a period of three months, the group of monkeys was observed by researchers of Roehampton University in London. Special attention was given to social vocalizations, the chit-chat amongst the monkeys by means of grunts, coos and girneys. They ignored the calls which indicated the presence of food or an approaching predator.

This way, the researchers were able to discover how many times the animals communicated in order to strengthen their bond. The team found that the females produced thirteen times the amount of friendly calls the males made. They were also much more likely to chatter to one another, compared to the males.
According to the researchers, the explanation lies in the fact that female macaques monkeys bond for life, while the males stray from group to group.

Researcher Greeno says the results indicate that especially female monkeys use vocal communication in order to maintain their larger social networks.

The researchers believe that with this finding they have also discovered the origin of the human language. They believe that the non-vocal forms of communication, such as grooming and stroking, have slowly been replaced by vocal communication. In large social networks, vocal communication is more efficient than non-vocal communication. According to Semple, head of the team, the female sex played a crucial role in this development. He believes that the findings provide support for the idea that during human evolution, selection for advanced vocal abilities acted more strongly on the sex that formed the core of the society.