This blog may help people explore some of the 'hidden' issues involved in certain media treatments of environmental and scientific issues. Using personal digital images, it's also intended to emphasise seasonal (and other) changes in natural history of the Swansea (South Wales) area. The material should help participants in field-based modules and people generally interested in the natural world. The views are wholly those of the author.
Tuesday 22 March 2022
Aping Their Colleagues?
A Warwick University study found that Orangutans, in Borneo and Sumatra, repeatedly come up with new versions of their 'kiss-squeak' alarm calls (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/mar/21/orangutans-use-slang-to-show-off-their-coolness-study-suggests). The new variants of 'kiss-squeak' alarm calls can differ in pitch and duration. Novel calls are more likely to arise in larger, rather than smaller (more conservative), groups of Orangutans. When novel calls arise, they are quickly incorporated into the group repertoire, enriching its 'slang'. The scientist, who carried out the study, thinks that juvenile apes adopt new calls, to show how 'cool' they are. Perhaps these apes are not so different from humans?
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