By studying the behavior of gorillas in the forests of Africa, British scientists have shown that, in order to keep the family together and attract the attention of their young, mothers are used to clapping their hands . A form of communication with gestures between primates that has been overlooked by researchers until now.
The most surprising thing, as explained in an article published in the journal Primates Ammie Kalan, from Oxford Brookes University, is that to applaud, gorilla females acquire a bipedal position and behave almost exactly like a human person.
In their explorations in the Congo, Kalan and his partner Hugo Rainey recorded the slapping of four separate groups of western lowland gorillas that inhabit the Likoula swamp. In all cases, they observed adult females clapping their hands, normally clapping their palms twice in rapid succession in front of their bodies. On two occasions the females made this sound to alert an adult male in the distance to the presence of human observers.
Another curious case was that of a mother who suddenly applauded with her calf, who, hearing the clapping, interrupted their games, while the adult gorillas that were next to them stopped looking for food. Then they all followed the gaze of the mother, who was watching the researchers, and the entire group quickly walked away.
