monkey chatter

99.99% of our genetic make up is identical to chimpanzees. Not wrongfully we assume that means that as intelligence goes chimpanzees must be closest to us. We are taught the they use tools, have a political oligarchy and even trade sex for food. (maybe you weren't taught that in school, I myself learned it off manswers) But last year scientists made a remarkable discovery. Monkeys are adapting closer to our ways than even chimps.

We all know monkeys use tools too, but did you know they are multilingual and use grammar?A skill chimps ( and it would seem even some humans) haven't learned yet.

Deep in the jungle, different calls bombard human ears, but each animal can pick out their own species call. But yet there are a group of monkeys that can hear and understand the calls of other species of monkeys. Making these monkeys multilingual.
The live in a U.N setting, with monkeys from 8 different species living together, looking out for each other and even grooming one another. Together these species have about 15 distinct calls, making each monkey able to understand 120 different sounds.
120 different sounds, or 8 languages, I don't know many humans that speak 8 languages. These sounds aren't simple quick calls, they are sentences, with grammar and modifiers.

This language development doesn't stop at just understanding other species.
White faced Capuchin monkeys have learned to lie. A process that sounds simple enough, but requires abstract thinking of things that are not there, predicting how other will react and thinking about what others are thinking.
Why lie?
Monkeys have strict political structure with strong leaders. In this society the leaders can take lesser males food. But what the lesser monkey has demonstrated is hiding good food, making the sound for "snake" and while the other monkeys are hiding in the trees looking for the snake, they have snuck down and eaten their treasure.

And I thought monkeys just thought about places to throw their poo.