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Baboon Sign Language Sheds Light on the Origin of Language
A nonhuman primate can effectively raise an arm to ask a social partner to groom it ... give another a little slap as an invitation to play, touch furtively the hand or genitals of another to greet it, slap the ground to threaten
- Researchers Adrien Meguerditchian and Jacques Vauclair
A baboon hand gesture appears to send the message "go ahead, make my day" to other baboons — suggesting that gesturing may have been a precursor to human language, according to a new study.
The findings could help to explain why humans often gesture with their hands, and particularly the right hand, when they speak.