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Chimp gestures follow same laws as human language
An infant chimpanzee using the 'reach' gesture during play.

Two human linguistic laws observed in wild chimpanzees

Chimpanzee gestures follow the same linguistic laws that are seen in human language, research has shown for the first time.

Researchers from the University of Roehampton studied videos of gestures made by wild chimpanzees living in the Budongo Forest Reserve in Uganda. They looked at more than 2,000 gestures, of 58 different types, that were made during play.

The most frequently used gestures were found to be shorter in duration. In longer sequences, the average gesture duration was also shorter.

This follows two linguistic laws seen in human language - Zipf’s laws of abbreviation, which predicts that more commonly used words tend to be shorter; and Menzerath’s law, which predicts that longer words are made up of shorter syllables.

These laws are known to exist in many human languages but had not previously been explored in gestural communications between animals.

The findings, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, suggest chimpanzee gestures may be more similar to our own language than previously thought.

Lead author, Raphaela Heesen, said: “Primate gestural communication is, of course, very different to human language, but our results show that these two systems are underpinned by the same mathematical principles. We hope that our work will pave the way for similar studies, to see quite how widespread these laws might be across the animal kingdom.”

Image © Dr Catherine Hobaiter
 

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Vets to run marathon for World Animal Protection

News Story 1
 Two recently graduated veterinary surgeons will be running the London Marathon in April to raise money for the charity World Animal Protection.

Alex Bartlett and Maeve O'Neill plan to run the race together if they are given the same start times.

Dr O'Neill said: "You're always limited in what you can do to help animals, so it is nice to raise money for a charity that helps animals around the world."

Dr Bartlett added: "I have never run a marathon before and am excited to run my first one for such a good cause!"

Both Dr Bartlett and Dr O'Neill have fundraising pages online. 

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News Shorts
BSAVA releases new Guide to Procedures

The British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA) has published a new edition of its Guide to Procedures for Small Animal Practice.

It has added four new procedures; cystostomy tube placement, endotracheal intubation, point-of-care ultrasound and wet-to-dry dressings.

BSAVA says that it is an essential step-by-step guide to diagnostic and therapeutic procedures performed in practice. The textbook includes new images and illustrations, as well as high-definition videos for use prior to procedures.

Nick Bexfield and Julia Riggs, editors of the new edition, said: "We have built upon the success of the previous editions by responding to the feedback received from the BSAVA readership, and hope this new guide helps to further increase the confidence and accuracy with which these procedures are performed."

Print copies are available in the BSAVA store, with a digital version in the BSAVA library.