Chimpanzees Use Stone 'Drums' to Communicate: A Groundbreaking Discovery

A five-year study reveals that chimpanzees in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa, use stones to strike tree trunks, producing sounds as a unique form of communication. Adult male chimpanzees repeatedly perform this behavior, creating characteristic piles of stones at the base of the trees. Researchers term this "stone-assisted drumming," distinct from traditional hand and foot drumming, as it involves a loud pant-hoot before the striking and subsequent silence. This behavior may serve to transmit information over longer distances in dense forests and is learned socially through cultural transmission, not genetically inherited. This discovery highlights that culture isn't unique to humans and should be considered in nature conservation.