Chimpanzee Vocal Communication

by Michael L. Wilson

During my thesis research, I recorded about 350 calls from chimpanzees in the Kanyawara community of Kibale National Park, Uganda. Chimpanzees produce more than 15 distinct types of calls. The precise number of call types is difficult to determine, since many calls grade into one another, producing intermediate forms. For example, a nervous adolescent male approaching a temperamental adult male may start off with pant-grunts, then grade into pant-barks and then finally pant-screams as his fear increases. Follow the links below to hear examples of some of the more common call types.

Pant-hoots• Pant-grunts and pant-barks • Food associated calls • Screams, whimpers and other calls