Regina Barber

And not only do we have peeing chimps, but we're also going to get chirping chorus waves from space.

And not only do we have peeing chimps, but we're also going to get chirping chorus waves from space.

And not only do we have peeing chimps, but we're also going to get chirping chorus waves from space.

We totally do. All that on this episode of Shortwave, the science podcast from NPR.

We totally do. All that on this episode of Shortwave, the science podcast from NPR.

We totally do. All that on this episode of Shortwave, the science podcast from NPR.

Okay, Ari, where do you want to start today?

Okay, Ari, where do you want to start today?

Okay, Ari, where do you want to start today?

Yeah, I'm holding back the yawn right now. So Ina Onishi, a grad student at Kyoto University in Japan, was studying a group of captive chimpanzees when something similar struck her as odd.

Yeah, I'm holding back the yawn right now. So Ina Onishi, a grad student at Kyoto University in Japan, was studying a group of captive chimpanzees when something similar struck her as odd.

Yeah, I'm holding back the yawn right now. So Ina Onishi, a grad student at Kyoto University in Japan, was studying a group of captive chimpanzees when something similar struck her as odd.

So basically chimps were peeing together a bit more often than you'd expect if they were just peeing at random. And she published that conclusion in the journal Current Biology this week. Could she tell why this was happening? So being closer helped, but proximity wasn't like the main factor here.

So basically chimps were peeing together a bit more often than you'd expect if they were just peeing at random. And she published that conclusion in the journal Current Biology this week. Could she tell why this was happening? So being closer helped, but proximity wasn't like the main factor here.

So basically chimps were peeing together a bit more often than you'd expect if they were just peeing at random. And she published that conclusion in the journal Current Biology this week. Could she tell why this was happening? So being closer helped, but proximity wasn't like the main factor here.

Chimps have a hierarchical society, and it turns out that the lower ranking chimps were more likely to catch the urge to pee from more dominant chimps.

Chimps have a hierarchical society, and it turns out that the lower ranking chimps were more likely to catch the urge to pee from more dominant chimps.

Chimps have a hierarchical society, and it turns out that the lower ranking chimps were more likely to catch the urge to pee from more dominant chimps.

But we can't rule out that there might be like a non-adaptive reason. It could be just that the chimps pee when they hear other chimps pee, sort of like humans get the urge when you hear like running water.

But we can't rule out that there might be like a non-adaptive reason. It could be just that the chimps pee when they hear other chimps pee, sort of like humans get the urge when you hear like running water.