Scientists have discovered that guerrillas do not "just beat their chests" but send specific messages to other guerrillas and "guerrillas".
It should be noted that the process of beating the breast like a drum has been observed in male gorillas.
But why do they do that? To find out, biologists from Germany, Spain and the United States studied mountain gorillas (gorilla beringei beringei) found in the dense mountain forests of Central Africa.
After a detailed and careful observation, the experts came to know two important things:
Male gorillas tell other male gorillas about their size (height) by beating their chests in a certain way. Surprisingly, short-tailed gorillas beat their chests more intensely, while larger-sized, taller and stronger-bodied gorillas have significantly lower chest-beating intensity.
When the female gorilla hears the sound of the male gorilla's chest beating, she decides whether or not to mate with the male gorilla for breeding. Female gorillas usually make large and strong-bodied gorillas their "spouses", while smaller and weaker gorillas have difficulty finding, mating, and breeding females.
Since mountain gorillas live in dense forests where their population is very small and scattered, the sound of beating their breasts also acts as a means of communication between these gorillas.
Details of the study are published in the latest issue of the online research journal "Scientific Reports".
