![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/chimps-show-and-tell-like-humans/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/1668469710066.jpg&description=Parents will empathise. Sutherland the chimpanzee had been minding her own business, having some "me time", but her daughter, Fiona, had found an interesting leaf. Fiona pushed the leaf relentlessly into her mother's gaze until eventually, wearily, the mother looked down and acknowledged it. "Yes dear," she seemed to say. "What a lovely leaf." Fiona's behaviour intrigued researchers because the best explanation they had for what was going on was that the chimpanzee was engaging in "show and tell", a behaviour that had been thought to be uniquely human. According to the scientists who spotted this interaction in the wild in Uganda, this tells us more than just that chimpanzee toddlers are as annoying as human ones. It also implies that they share a key cognitive attribute. READ MORE: * Runaway chimpanzee returns to Ukraine zoo on keeper's bike * What is it about the human brain that makes us smarter than other animals? * Covid-19: Chimpanzees at Czech zoo get screen time during lockdown * Chimpanzees have best friends too, study finds "This is so exciting," Katie Slocombe, a psychology professor from the University of York, said. "This is the first time we have seen evidence of a chimpanzee showing something not because they wanted another chimpanzee to do something about it but just because they wanted them to show interest." Fiona had found an object that excited her, albeit mysteriously so, given that the forest was full of leaves, and wanted to share that excitement with someone else. "It had been thought that the motivation to share experiences just for the sake of sharing was a uniquely human attribute," Slocombe said. "It had also been thought it was an important one. [The theory was that] engaging in 'joint attention' facilitated complex communication and co-operation, of the kind that enabled human society. It was identified as a small step that has massive downstream changes." The latest observation, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of S){kind=link}
Parents will empathise. Sutherland the chimpanzee had been minding her own business, having some “me time”. But her daughter, Fiona, had found an interesting leaf. Relentlessly Fiona pushed the leaf into her mother’s gaze until eventually, wearily, the mother looked down and acknowledged it. “Yes dear,” she seemed to say, “what a lovely leaf.”
The leaf was not only of interest to Fiona, though. It, along with her behaviour, also intrigued researchers. Because the best explanation they had for what was going on was that the chimpanzee was engaging in “show and tell”, a behaviour that had been thought to be uniquely human.
According to the scientists who spotted this interaction in the wild in Uganda, this tells us more than just that chimpanzee toddlers
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