Bluesky Facebook Reddit Email

Gelada monkeys understand complex "conversations" involving distress calls and prosocial comforting responses, exhibiting surprise when such vocal exchanges are manipulated to violate their expectations

05.14.25 | PLOS

Apple iPhone 17 Pro

Apple iPhone 17 Pro delivers top performance and advanced cameras for field documentation, data collection, and secure research communications.
Wild gelada monkeys detect emotional and prosocial cues in vocal exchanges during aggression
Graphical abstract of the playback experiment. Geladas showed more interest towards stimuli violating a positive sequential order as well as after stimuli with calls of high emotional arousal. Gelada monkeys seem to show cognitive ability to recognize vocal affiliation directed at victims. Credit: Pedruzzi et al., 2025, PLOS One, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Gelada monkeys understand complex "conversations" involving distress calls and prosocial comforting responses, exhibiting surprise when such vocal exchanges are manipulated to violate their expectations

Article URL : https://plos.io/3Gvw78V

Article title: Wild gelada monkeys detect emotional and prosocial cues in vocal exchanges during aggression

Author countries: Italy, Ethiopia, France

Funding: The research has been funded by the Leakey Foundation (Science for reconciliation: What an Ethiopian monkey tells about peace-making, grant n° S202310431) and by the following zoos and foundations (funders of BRIDGES project, UNIPI, AOO "BIO" - 0005878/2022), in alphabetic order: Dudley Zoo (UK), Fondazione ARCA (Italy), Giardino Zoologico di Pistoia (Italy), NaturZoo Rheine (Germany), Parc des Félins (France), Parco Natura Viva (Italy), Parco Zoo Falconara (Italy), Rotterdam Zoo (The Netherlands), Saint-Félicien (Canada), Wildlife Conservation Benefit (Italy), Wilhelma Zoo (Germany), Zoo de Cerza (France), Zoo de La Boissière du doré (France). Rennes Métropole and the Région Bretagne (France) covered the field expenses for the first author while the University of Pisa and University of Rennes funded student fellowships. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

PLOS One

10.1371/journal.pone.0323295

Wild gelada monkeys detect emotional and prosocial cues in vocal exchanges during aggression

14-May-2025

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional Media

Wild gelada monkeys detect emotional and prosocial cues in vocal exchanges during aggression
Left: a gelada male attacks two females, who respond with screams and bared-teeth facial expressions. Right: one of the study subjects, feeding, is about to receive the audio stimulus; the experimenter (Luca Pedruzzi) remains hidden behind vegetation, with the loudspeaker concealed from the subject’s view. Credit: Alice Galotti and Elisabetta Palagi, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Keywords

Animal Intelligence Animal Learning Animal Psychology Animals Life Sciences Mammals Organismal Biology Primates Wildlife

Article Information

Journal
PLOS One
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0323295
Article Publication Date
2025-05-14
Article Title
Wild gelada monkeys detect emotional and prosocial cues in vocal exchanges during aggression
COI Statement
The authors declare no competing interests.

Contact Information

Hanna Abdallah
PLOS
onepress@plos.org

How to Cite This Article

APA:
PLOS. (2025, May 14). Gelada monkeys understand complex "conversations" involving distress calls and prosocial comforting responses, exhibiting surprise when such vocal exchanges are manipulated to violate their expectations. Brightsurf News. https://www.brightsurf.com/news/8Y4EMYZL/gelada-monkeys-understand-complex-conversations-involving-distress-calls-and-prosocial-comforting-responses-exhibiting-surprise-when-such-vocal-exchanges-are-manipulated-to-violate-their-expectations.html
MLA:
"Gelada monkeys understand complex "conversations" involving distress calls and prosocial comforting responses, exhibiting surprise when such vocal exchanges are manipulated to violate their expectations." Brightsurf News, May. 14 2025, https://www.brightsurf.com/news/8Y4EMYZL/gelada-monkeys-understand-complex-conversations-involving-distress-calls-and-prosocial-comforting-responses-exhibiting-surprise-when-such-vocal-exchanges-are-manipulated-to-violate-their-expectations.html.