Groovy gibbons! Hilarious video reveals how apes dance like humans

by · Mail Online

Like a cross between Peter Crouch and Michael Jackson, a hilarious video reveals the moment a cheeky gibbon performs a dance for a captive audience. 

The female, filmed at a rescue centre in Ninh Bình, Vietnam, has her back turned as she dramatically drops and shifts, described as a 'cross between a robot dance and vogueing'. 

Scientists have observed seven gibbons performing the elaborate dance, consisting of jerky sideways and upward movements worthy of a 1970s New York nightclub. 

Not only is the dance human-like, but the gibbons perform it for humans – possibly to get attention when they're hungry. 

Already, primates other than humans are known to dance – some even while listening to music – but few are quite as remarkably stylized as this. 

With their back to the human, the Nomascus gibbon performs the elaborate dance - consisting of jerky sideways and upward movements worthy of a 1970s New York nightclub
This image illustrates the different movements in the Nomascus dances, from up-down movements and by left-right movements nesting in alternating sitting and standing postures

The four dancing gibbon species  

  • Northern buffed-cheeked gibbon (Nomascus annamensis)
  • Northern white-cheeked gibbon (Nomascus leucogenys) 
  • Southern white-cheeked gibbon (Nomascus siki) 
  • Yellow-cheeked gibbon (Nomascus gabriellae) 

Study author Professor Pritty Patel-Grosz at the University of Oslo, said it 'looks like a cross between a robot dance and vogueing'.

'The overall structure of the dance was the same in all species in the sense that it always consisted of a temporary stiffening of the body accompanied by twitching movements of the limbs, superficially similar to a human "robot dance",' she told MailOnline.

'However, the complexity and duration of dances varied greatly between individuals.' 

The scientists observed seven gibbons from four species dancing – northern buffed-cheeked gibbon, northern white-cheeked gibbon, southern white-cheeked gibbon and yellow-cheeked gibbon. 

All four species are found in Vietnam and Laos in southeast Asia – although these particular creatures were filmed at European and Australian zoos and the Endangered Primate Rescue Centre in Vietnam.

Researchers define the dance as 'an abruptly commencing temporary stiffening of the body accompanied by rhythmic, often repetitive twitching body movements', although it was performed without music. 

Interestingly, it was only adult females of the species performing the dance, not males.

In the wild, the dance is thought be a sexually suggestive signal to attract a male – a 'proceptive signal to solicit copulation' as the researchers put it. 

The team say: 'Our results demonstrate that dances in Nomascus represent a common and intentional form of visual communication restricted to sexually mature females'
The scientists observed four species doing the dance - northern buffed-cheeked gibbon, northern white-cheeked gibbon, southern white-cheeked gibbon and yellow-cheeked gibbon

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But in captivity – as is the case with these gibbons – the dance has a broader range of uses. 

The researchers noticed that the females also performed the dance towards humans, usually with their backs to the viewer. 

So they think the dance is done in anticipation of feeding time or just as part of a social interaction with people. 

The observations are unusual because animal dances are usually performed for mating purposes. 

According to the experts, these gibbons are officially dancing because these movements are 'intentional, rhythmic and non-mechanically effective', meaning it doesn't have any practical function.

A walk, for example, is a 'mechanically effective' movement because it has a practical function – to get from one place to another. 

Pictured, a female white cheeked gibbon (Nomascus leucogenys). This species is found mainly in Laos, Vietnam, and southern China (file photo)

'We propose that gibbons dances likely evolved from less elaborate rhythmic proceptive signals,' the team conclude. 

The observations have been detailed further in a preprint paper that is scheduled to be published in the journal Primates.

Of course, there are many more members of the animal kingdom that dance, many of whom are birds, although it's usually to impress a mate. 

Great crested grebes (elegant waterbirds that are found in Britain) perform a 'water ballet' – a serene dance involving coordinated head turns and in-unison bobbing. 

While red-capped manakins in Central and South America will 'moonwalk' along branches as part of the mating ritual. 

And male mudskippers – fish that can survive outside of the water – perform lofty leaps, twirl their tails and arch their bodies in a bid to dazzle a female. 

As for primates, researchers at Kyoto University in Japan filmed chips in captivity swayed their bodies and bobbed their heads and even clapped when exposed to piano music.