A recent study observing wild chimpanzees over a period of more than 10 years revealed that when food gets scarcer, the adults put play aside and focus on survival, while mother chimps continue to be their children's primary playmate -- suggesting their indispensable role to foster their young's physical and social development.
A recent study observing wild chimpanzees over a period of more than 10 years revealed that when food gets scarcer, the adults put play aside and focus on survival, while mother chimps continue to be their children's primary playmate -- suggesting their indispensable role to foster their young's physical and social development.
Through their previous work, Machanda and Sabbi were familiar with the playfulness of chimpanzees and decided to look deeper into the patterns of play behavior. They expected seasonal variations in food availability would affect adult chimps' time spent playing. Why do some primates play throughout life and other mammals don't?"I think what sets primates apart is that they spend more time growing up compared to other mammals," said Machanda."They also have highly developed brains and live in structured groups, with very specific rules governing interactions between individuals. Play permits them to build not only physical skills, but also the skills of social interaction.
By comparison, a troop of 60 baboons always sticks together, so baby baboons always have other baboons close to their age nearby to play with. Baboon mothers usually do not play with their babies.Play among the chimps often divides depending on their sex."It's not uncommon to see male chimps to engage in more aggressive types of play, while females are doing a type of play related to parenting," said Machanda.
"As a mom, it's impossible to watch my kids and not see them as primates," said Machanda."I can see the incredible value of play in the lives of my own kids, when I'm playing with them or when I'm seeing them play with their friends. I can see how they're using it to develop certain skills. I can also relate to the chimp moms and the energy cost of play when their kids are jumping on them, and they just want to take a nap.
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