This summer, my study on the food-associated communication behavior of chimpanzees was published in the journal Primates. This study examined how acoustic playbacks of food-associated “rough grunt” vocalizations from one of two known, identical feeding sites impact the approach and feeding decisions of chimpanzees in a captive setting. We found that playbacks attracted listeners more often than expected by chance, while this was not the case for other species-specific vocalizations. Playbacks did not have any effect on the feeding decisions of receivers. These results support the hypothesis that rough grunts attract receivers but call into question whether this approach behavior is a response to information about food or rather social information conveyed by the signaler. Article PDF, supplemental materials and .zip files of the acoustic stimuli used in the playback study can be found here: PDF  Supplemental Materials Rough Grunts Control Calls

Article first published here in Primates, 62, 905-918, 2021 by Springer Nature