#gestural communication

Me:[attempts to speak]...[gesture slashing motion at own throat]

Boss: Oh, you've lost your voice?

Me: [nods]

Boss: Laryngitis huh. Well I just wanted to ask you about that [big report thing that requires input and input from multiple departments] anyway.

Me: [makes rolling motion with hands, pulls face]

Boss: Yeah, still chipping away at it huh? I know what you mean, that damn thing has been around longer than I have. Okay, no worries. Was there anything else?

Me: [holds up one finger, then draws rectangle in air]

Boss: Oh right, that thing. How is that going anyhow?

Me: [makes writing motions]

Female chimpanzees are more "negative" when communicating with other females, research has found.

The study analysed the different gesturing strategies used by a group of females at Chester Zoo.

In female-female interactions, the chimps used more aggressive signals and "apologised" less often with gestures of reassurance.

But they employed a more positive strategy around males, with more expressions of greeting and submission.

As I am interested in primate communication, this study stood out to me as one that my blog-readers would appreciate and enjoy. While male chimpanzees are definitely more aggressive in terms of their actions and relationships, it appears that female chimps can get quite 'mean girl' with their fellow females through a more subtle way - gestural communication with each other.

Read more on BBC Nature or dive into the scientific article.