Female chimpanzees are more "negative" when communicating with other females, research has found.

The study analysed the different gesturing strategies used by a group of females at Chester Zoo.

In female-female interactions, the chimps used more aggressive signals and "apologised" less often with gestures of reassurance.

But they employed a more positive strategy around males, with more expressions of greeting and submission.

"When communicating with males, females sort of 'suck up' to them," said PhD student Nicole Scott from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, US, whose findings are published in the American Journal of Primatology.

To carry out the research, Ms Scott video-recorded the behaviour of 17 females and five males in a group of chimps at Chester Zoo, UK.

"I defined gesture as an expressive movement of the limbs or head and body postures produced intentionally," she told BBC Nature.

Examination of overall behaviour in males and females showed no differences in the repertoire of gestures the animals used. But differences in communication appeared when individual interactions were analysed.

Continued:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/21621643