BBC: Bonobo chimp filmed shaking head to say 'no'

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8659000/8659411.stm

Bonobos have been filmed appearing to 'say no' by shaking their heads, report scientists.

On a number of occasions, bonobos were filmed using side to side head movements to prevent others from doing something they did not want them to do.

In one film a mother is seen shaking her head to stop her infant playing with its food.

This may reflect an early precursor to head-shaking behaviour amongst humans in one of our closest relatives.

The study has been published in the journal Primates.

Disapproving look

"In bonobos, our observations are the first reported use of preventive head-shaking," say Ms Christel Schneider from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.

Bonobo

This would raise the question of whether these gestures reflect a primitive precursor of the human 'no' head-shake

Ms Christel Schneider
Max Planck Institute, Germany

Ms Schneider undertook the study with Dr Josep Call of the Max Planck Institute and Dr Katja Liebal from Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany.

Ms Schneider recalls how the videos captured at Leipzig Zoo in Germany show a bonobo mother shaking her head in disapproval when her infant plays with some food.

"Ulindi, tried to stop her infant, Luiza, from playing with a piece of leek. Since Luiza took no notice despite repeated attempts to stop her, Ulindi finally shakes her head towards the infant," she says.

Ulindi eventually throws the leek away whilst the infant still tries to reach for it, the researchers report.

'No' bonobo

African great apes such as bonobos (Pan paniscus) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are known to use head gestures such as nodding, bowing and shaking to communicate with other group members.

Bonobos are already known to use head-shaking to initiate interactions with other members of the group, such as playing.

However, this is the first study to film and observe an ape shaking its head in a negative context to stop or prevent other bonobo behaviour.

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