Feb 06, 2015 12:52 PM EST By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

When chimpanzees travel to a new area, they can apparently change their accent to communicate better with their new friends.

According to BBC News, authors of a study published in the journal Current Biology tracked the differences in how Dutch chimps interacted when moved to Scotland in 2010 and then in 2013. They found the Dutch chimps, the newcomers, adapted the way they communicated.

"Our study shows that chimpanzee referential food calls are not fixed in their structure and that, when exposed to a new social group, chimpanzees can change their calls to sound more like their group mates," study co-author Katie Slocombe, of the University of York, said in a press release.

For their study, the scientists took note of how the Dutch chimps requested an apple. In 2010, that was typically uttered in a higher-pitched, more enthusiastic sound, whereas in 2013 they conformed to the locals with a noticeably lower grunt.

"One really powerful way to try and understand how language evolved is to look at the communication systems of animals that are closely related to us," Slocombe told BBC News. "What kind of basic communication skills were in that common ancestor? And what really is unique in humans, and has evolved since?

"Previously it'd always been assumed that although chimps and other monkeys have these referential calls... that the structure of those calls was basically a read-out of emotion."

The high-pitched call the Dutch chimps used to call for an apple indicated that they loved apples, whereas the low-pitch grunt the Scottish chimps used indicated the opposite. So by using the local chimps' call when they wanted an apple, the Dutch chimps showed they still had their affinity for apples.

"It would be really exciting to try and find out why chimpanzees are motivated to sound more similar to their group mates," study co-author Simon Townsend, of the University of Zurich, said in the release. "Is it so that they can be better understood? Or is it just to sound more similar to their friends?"

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