Chimpanzees romantic interest through a distinctive behavior: tearing or clipping leaves in front of potential mates. Unlike humans who rely on eye contact or compliments, these primates use this subtle hand gesture to signal attraction.
Insights from Ape Communication Expert
Professor Cat Hobaiter, a specialist in the evolution of communication and social behavior at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, has identified over 150 ape gestures. Many mimic human actions, such as shooing motions or extending a palm to request an object.
During her presentation at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual conference in Phoenix, Arizona, Hobaiter highlighted the ‘leaf clipping’ gesture. She described it as: “This is basically chimp flirting. It’s like a chimp pick-up line — you tear a little leaf at someone to show you like them.”
Observations in Ugandan Chimpanzee Communities
Hobaiter and her team detailed their research on East African chimpanzees in two neighboring Ugandan communities, publishing results in Scientific Reports. One group favors ‘leaf-clipping,’ where individuals rip leaves using their mouths. The other employs ‘leaf tear-pull,’ stripping leaves one by one from twigs.
This flirting method primarily involves males courting females, though females initiate it too. Chimps perform it audibly for attention or silently to avoid rivals. Hobaiter noted: “It’s silent, like plucking daisy petals. Like a, ‘She loves me, she loves me not,’ pile of leaves. Maybe you don’t want to give the game away to the big guy around the corner that might out-compete you.”
Broader Gesture Meanings and Human Parallels
Decoding some gestures requires years of study. A chimpanzee spinning in place signals ‘stop that,’ while raising an arm means ‘let’s travel.’
Hobaiter emphasized that apes and humans share core communication tools. She explained: “Fundamentally, there’s no big missing piece in the puzzle that we have and they don’t. And yet, we end up with this strange situation where we are writing poetry and sending people into space, and that’s not what they do with their communication.”
Human language evolved uniquely through storytelling, fostering deeper social bonds beyond basic ape gestures.
