Some chimpanzees are rock drummers, some jazz, study shows. We’re amused too

Researches who studied wild chimpanzees in the Ugandan rainforest found that the animals have their own “signature drumming style” which implies that in order to talk to each other the chimps drum out messages to one another on tree roots, findings published in the journal Animal Behaviour noted.

The drumming allows the chimps to even spread information over long distances, revealing who is where, and what they are doing, the study further said.

“If you hit the roots really hard, it resonates and makes this big deep, booming sound that travels through the forest,” Dr Catherine Hobaiter from the University of St Andrews told BBC in an interview.

“We could often recognise who was drumming when we heard them; it was a fantastic way to find the different chimpanzees we were looking for,” she added.

Lead researcher PhD student Vesta Eleuteri from the University of Vienna, described that some chimps have a regular drumming rhythm akin to rock and blues drummers while some have variable rhythms like jazz.

Additionally, researchers found that the chimpanzees used their rhythm when they were travelling.

The researchers believe that understanding the drumming of the chimpanzees could solve a major communication puzzle: why do wild chimpanzees greet each other when they meet, but never say goodbye.

“It might help us to understand one of these things that we thought was a real difference between chimps and humans, and help us to understand why that difference might have come about,” the lead researcher said as quoted by BBC.