Fig. 1.

The distribution of gestures across living great ape species and genera, based on current knowledge: numbers of gestures specific to each clade are shown, revealing extensive overlap at higher taxonomic levels. Where a gesture is found in all of Pongo, Gorilla and Pan it has been treated as ape-typical even if it has not yet been recorded in both troglodytes and paniscus. Note that one gesture, big loud scratch, appears to have been lost in the genus Gorilla, although it is of course difficult to be sure of absence