An interesting feature of bonobo social groups and insight into emotion and cognition! Bonobos make "baby like" noises to garner comfort from peers.
Both baby and adult bonobos have been observed using this technique where, when upset or in conflict with another bonobo, they will make noises and expressions to garner comfort. This technique is pictured above where the bonobo on the left is 'pouting' and being held by a companion. From the article:
"Psychologists from Durham University, UK have found in their study that bonobos produce a variety of signals including "baby-like" signals to strategically display distress when they are attacked by other bonobos.
The researchers carried out this study on two bonobo groups comprising over 40 bonobos at the Lola ya Bonobo Sanctuary in Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo), the world's only bonobo sanctuary.
The researchers examined how bonobo victims communicate about their distress after a fight, and whether these signals affect the responses of bonobo bystanders. They found that when the bonobos produce certain types of signals of their emotional distress, they have higher chances of being comforted by other bonobos watching. These signals resemble those typically used by baby bonobos such as pouting, whimpering and showing tantrums.
The adult bonobos usually stop signaling their distress when they get supported by others, while immature bonobos still continue afterwards.
The study reveals that adult bonobos are also less likely to be re-attacked by their former opponent when they display these "baby-like" signals following a conflict.
The researchers further discovered that bonobos are sensitive to their audience as such they produce more signals in general if more bonobos in the social audience are nearby, suggesting bonobos adapt their signals depending on who is nearby."
This is particularly interesting and exciting as it gives us insight into ape cognition. Where humans are known to express emotions contextually and even strategically, it has long been assumed that expressions from our primate relatives are just direct outward expressions they have no control over. This study suggests that apes not only can control their emotional expressions and behavior, but that they do so with goals and strategies in mind much like we do.
Read the full article here!