Apes may lead to origin of language: researchers

A male chimpanzee may beg for food from another chimpanzee by gesturing with an extended arm and open hand. Under different circumstances, the same chimpanzee may use the same gesture to try to coax a female chimpanzee to have sex. And the same gesture may be used after two males fight as a signal of reconciliation.

In research published on Monday, scientists seeking clues to the origins of human language analyzed the way two types of apes genetically closely related to people -- chimpanzees and bonobos -- use such hand and limb gestures to communicate.

They found that the apes use such gestures much more flexibly -- in different contexts with apparently different meanings -- than they used facial expressions and vocalizations. The findings, they believe, lend support to the idea that human language started with such gestures rather than speech.

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