The expressive chimpanzees of Fongoli


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On Tues Oct 10, 6:30pm, Kirsty Graham (St Andrews) will be talking about her recent work on primate gesture with chimpanzees at Fongoli and bonobos at Wamba:
“As someone who has spent 10 years studying primate gesture, I was (pleasantly) shocked by my research trip to Fongoli, Senegal. Here was a small cohesive group of Western chimpanzees waking up, walking onto a flat open plain, and socialising. I could film everything, from approach through to communication, response, departure. In this talk, I’ll share some of those videos and insights from the Fongoli chimpanzees – highlighting the necessity of collaborating with others and visiting different primate communities. I draw comparisons with my experience of bonobos at Wamba, DRCongo, particularly around female behaviour and play. It is only through these kinds of direct comparisons and opening of research spaces that we can start to uncover the diversity of primate behaviour.”

Dr Kirsty Graham (they/she) is a Research Fellow at the School of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, studying how primates use gestures to communicate.

Kirsty will be speaking live in the Daryll Forde Seminar Room, 2nd Floor of the UCL Anthropology Dept. We also go out on ZOOM.
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