2026/04/08 by Kirsty E. Graham, Michel Fongoli Sadiakhou, Papa Ibnou Ndiaye +3 · 1 voice
Psychology · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Social Sciences · #Primate Behavior and Ecology #Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior #Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
paper · doi:10.1163/1568539x-bja10359
openalex publication_date 2026/04/08 · openalex created_date 2026/04/09 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11
Abstract Many animal species perform elaborate displays that represent honest signals of their physical qualities to potential mates and competitors. As such, these displays are targeted towards a specific audience and sensitive to their perception. But what happens when the signaller has a fundamentally different acoustic experience of the display as compared to their putative audience? We report observations from Fongoli, Senegal, of chimpanzees entering inside hollow baobab trees and performing acoustic displays. Only one chimpanzee enters at a time, and the sound to an outside audience appears dampened as compared to vocal and percussive signals performed on the outside of trees. We speculate that the sound may be modified and amplified within a hollow tree, so that the performer has a different experience of their display than does their audience, and encourage future empirical assessment. This behaviour represents one of only a few examples of nonhuman animals using objects or environmental features to modify their acoustic communication and is described for the first time in chimpanzees. Future research should address the motivations underlying chimpanzee baobab displays with a view to understanding potentially self-directed aspects of these performances.