- Feb 5, 2002
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A gorilla’s chest beating is an incredible sight, and sound, to behold, but new research based on years of observation of mountain gorillas shows there’s much we never understood about this iconic acoustic.
Since people first went to see King Kong, or since gamers first met Donkey Kong from the Mario Bros franchise, most might say male gorillas beats their chests with their fists, and as a sign of challenge or triumph.
Apart from the fact that they use cupped hands, it seems to serve a number of functions—a challenge not necessarily being one of them.
Edward Wright, a primatologist at the Max Planck Institute, spent between 2014 and 2016 observing500 chest beats from 25 different silverback mountain gorillas in Rwanda’s national parks.
Using acousitc monitoring equipment he and his colleagues determined that the chest thumping was an honest demonstration of body size. This hints at several organizational aspects of gorilla social life. The first is that larger animals were recorded at lower frequencies which could travel half a mile.
Continued below.
www.goodnewsnetwork.org
Since people first went to see King Kong, or since gamers first met Donkey Kong from the Mario Bros franchise, most might say male gorillas beats their chests with their fists, and as a sign of challenge or triumph.
Apart from the fact that they use cupped hands, it seems to serve a number of functions—a challenge not necessarily being one of them.
Edward Wright, a primatologist at the Max Planck Institute, spent between 2014 and 2016 observing500 chest beats from 25 different silverback mountain gorillas in Rwanda’s national parks.
Using acousitc monitoring equipment he and his colleagues determined that the chest thumping was an honest demonstration of body size. This hints at several organizational aspects of gorilla social life. The first is that larger animals were recorded at lower frequencies which could travel half a mile.
Continued below.
Gorillas Use Chest Beating to Prevent Conflict, Not Provoke it, a New Study Finds
It's believed that each thump may act as a calling card, with members of a dominant male's group being able to identify the silverback.
www.goodnewsnetwork.org
