BONOBO
(Pan paniscus)Communication
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| HABITAT & DIET |
| SOCIETY |
| MATING SYSTEM |
| MALE vs. FEMALE |
| PREDATION |
| COMMUNICATION |
Photo courtesy www.daveliggett.com |
Bonobos have an incredibly large learning comprehension. Pointing behavior, which bonobos use to alert eachother of a new food source, or an intruder, is a behavior that appears at around age 3 in humans (Vea, 1998).
Vocalizations and facial expressions are also largely used within the bonobo communitiy to serve as communication mechanisms. At least nine different vacolaizations have been identified, such as a localization call, feeding call, play vocalization, aggressive call, or excitement call. Each of these are identified within the bonobo group as well as between groups (Patterson, 1979).
Facial expressions are probably the most important and useful form of communication within the bonobo society. A relaxed face, play face, stare face, grin face, and aggressive faces are the best way to determine the mood and feelings of the bonobos in any situation. A smile can indicate happiness, and pouting lips can indicate playfulness (Patterson, 1979). Just like in humans, facial expressions "say it all."
This page was created for an Animal Behavior course for Biology spring semester 2003
Davidson College
Literature Cited
Contact me at: mebryant@davidson.edu