Animals Common marmosets communicate with structured call sequences

SDA

6.11.2024 - 00:01

Common marmosets communicate in complex call sequences.
Common marmosets communicate in complex call sequences.
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Common marmosets can communicate with each other in systematically connected calls. These structured sequences consist of up to nine different calls, as a study published on Wednesday by the University of Zurich (UZH) shows.

The sequences not only depend on the context, but also follow certain rules. The findings of the study are among the first evidence of such structured communication between animals. However, it is still unclear how these structures arise and whether sounds have different meanings depending on how they are structured, the UZH wrote.

Similar discoveries have been made in the communication of chimpanzees. The presence of these abilities in primate species that are both closely and distantly related to humans could indicate a common evolutionary origin around 45 million years ago in the last common ancestor of humans and apes, they added.

According to the researchers, it is also possible that the unique social interaction and upbringing of common marmosets, which are similar to humans, plays an important role in the structure of communication. In common marmosets, all members of the group participate in the rearing of the young, which contributes to the high social competence of this monkey species.

SDA