A bonobo demonstrated the ability to track imaginary objects in controlled tests, challenging the belief that imagination is uniquely human and hinting at deep evolutionary roots. In a set of ...

A lot of human society requires what’s called a “theory of mind"—the ability to infer the mental state of another person and adjust our actions based on what we expect they know and are thinking. We ...

The peeps, hoots and grunts of wild bonobos, a species of great ape living in the African rainforest, can convey complex thoughts in a way that mirrors some elements of human language, a new study ...

The evolution of human language has been closely examined and analyzed by researchers for decades. Experts have traced language's growth and diversity in societies and have also had findings ...

Bonobos, one of humanity’s closest relatives, can tell when a human doesn’t know something and steps in to help — a cognitive ability never before identified in nonhuman apes, a study found.

We humans concoct never-before-heard sentences with ease, embedding phrases within phrases to express the wildest ideas we can dream up (“the purple pangolin that waltzed across the ballroom had a ...

If you’ve heard the common phrase, “Bonobos make love, not war,” you might wonder about the context behind this statement. Essentially, bonobos use sexual activity as a form of conflict resolution.

Chimpanzees and bonobos are often thought to reflect two different sides of human nature—the conflict-ready chimpanzee versus the peaceful bonobo—but a new study publishing April 12 in the journal ...

This research received funds from the Swiss National Science Foundation and Harvard University. Humans can effortlessly talk about an infinite number of topics, from neuroscience to pink elephants, by ...