It's not that we can learn something more from "turn-taking conversations" among great apes. It's just that we should be more polite when we converse with our fellow humans.

A new study from the Humboldt Research Group of the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Germany reveals that great apes such as the bonobo and chimpanzee do communicate cooperatively like we do. Apes also employ a back-and-forth style of cooperative communication somewhat similar to human conversation.

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The bonobo (Pan paniscus) and the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) are the closest extant relatives to humans.

The study found the communications among the endangered bonobos and chimpanzees feature turn-taking sequences where a "speaker" isn't interrupted until he finishes "speaking."

Among humans, turn-taking refers to the process by which people in a conversation decide who is to speak next.

Turn-taking conversations among apes, however, use sounds and gestures that somewhat resembles the give and take of a human conversation.

"Communicative interactions of great apes thus show the hallmarks of human social action during conversation and suggest that cooperative communication arose as a way of coordinating collaborative activities more efficiently," said lead researcher Simone Pika.

The research team spent two years studying the bonobo groups in Salonga National Park and Luo Scientific Reserve in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They spent several months stydying the chimpanzee groups inside Uganda's Kibale National Park and the Ivory Coast's Taï National Park.

They found out that chimp conversations are longer and more regimented and have more structured patterns of signal, pause and response.

"For bonobos, gaze plays a more important role and they seem to anticipate signals before they have been fully articulated," said researcher Marlen Froehlich.

On the other hand, chimps have expressive faces that are important in close-up communications.

Bonobos are listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List and are threatened by habitat destruction and human population growth. The chimpanzee is also listed on the IUCN Red List as an endangered species.

Tagsbonobo, Chimpanzee, Humboldt Research Group, turn taking conversations