Even female monkeys chat more than males
It's not just your missus that enjoys a good gossip, female monkeys like to chat too.
Scientists studying macaques monkeys on an island off Puerto Rico found that females chatter a whopping 13 times as much as males.
This could explain why your partner knows every last detail about what her friend did a week last Tuesday while you only know your mate said "Yeah, good game wasn't it?"
Researchers from Roehampton University listened to the grunts, coos and girneys of the 24 monkeys (16 female, 8 male) for three months.
They ignored the calls which indicated the presence of food or an approaching predator and counted how many noises they made in friendly chit-chat.
Overall, the team found the females produced 13 times the amount of calls the males made. They were also much more likely to chatter to one another, compared to the males who chattered to both males and females equally.
It is hoped the research could lead to a better understanding of human evolution and language development.
"Our findings provide support for the idea that during human evolution, selection for advanced vocal abilities acted more strongly on the sex that formed the core of the society," said Dr Stuart Semple.
Be glad we did not ask one of the female researchers, that quote could have been 13 times as long.
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