Comparing Primate Gestural Repertoires: Bearded Capuchin Monkeys, Chimpanzees, and Bonobos

• Grant number: 25/06375-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: September 01, 2025
• End date: August 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Experimental Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Patrícia Izar Mauro
• Grantee: Beatriz Franco Felício dos Santos
• Supervisor: Catherine Hobaiter
• Host Institution: Instituto de Psicologia (IP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of St Andrews, Scotland
• Associated to the scholarship: 24/05106-6 - Gesture development in a wild population of Sapajus libidinosus, BP.DR

Abstract

growing body of literature recognizes the importance of gestures in the evolution of language. Studies have largely focused on gestures performed by apes and shown that the repertoire is vast - upwards of 60 signal types - with a significant overlap among ape species. Although some research has been carried out on monkey species in Africa and Asia, there have been no systematic empirical investigations into the overlap between the repertoire of apes and monkeys in Central and South America, which could provide new insight into the evolution of language given their more ancient phylogenetic relationship. In this internship, we propose performing the first analysis of the overlap of the gestural repertoire of wild capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) with chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus). For this, I would receive training at the University of St Andrews, UK, to categorize the capuchin gestural repertoire following the Gestural Origins protocol (developed at the Wild Minds Lab). I can then compare existing coded data from the two Pan species with Capuchin data from LEDIS after my return to Brazil. This comparison would allow us to investigate possible convergent socio-ecological pressures that might influence the evolution of intentional communication systems like language.