Monkeys respect their elders too
Primates appear to pay special attention to the voices of their elders
Respect for elders may be universal in primates, new research has suggested.
A study by the University of Rennes in Paimpont, France, discovered that monkeys pay their elders special attention during conversation - just like humans do.
Alban Lemasson - who recorded more than 800 vocal exchanges between eight female Campbell's monkeys for the study - believes that younger primates may be attempting to garner some of the older animals' wisdom.
After observing each of the monkeys for eight hours, Mr Lemasson concluded that calls by older monkeys elicited more vocal responses than those by younger monkeys, regardless of their status within the group.
Klaus Zuberbuhler of the School of Psychology at the University of St Andrews in the UK, said the study suggested that respect for elders is part of our primate heritage.
"This is the first time scientists have shown systematically that primates other than humans pay special attention to the voices of their elders," he explained.
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A separate study involving Campbell's monkeys, carried out at the Ivory Coast's Tai National Park and published in the science journal PLoS One late last year, suggested scientists may be a step closer to understanding the origins of human language.
Researchers found that the monkeys frequently combined sounds and words to alter meanings during vocal interaction, allowing themselves to string together "sentences" and convey even more information.
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