Study shows toddlers and apes actually have a whole lot in common

Knew it.

At least once in our lives, we're pretty likely to refer to our children as "little monkeys." It's a phrase that's probably been around since the dawn of time and yet, it's usually said with a pinch of salt in the knowledge that young children aren't actually small primates. They're human being, it doesn't make sense. Except apparently it does because a new study has shown that toddlers and apes are actually super similar. Like, excessively so. Research published the Animal Cognition journal shows that toddlers and apes share a staggering 89 percent of their gestures and movements.

The study, conducted in the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, showed that when they're learning to communicate, toddlers use a lot of same movements as chimps and apes. 

When they're young, babies use up to 52 gestures to convey how they're feeling and out of these, 46 are also shared with apes. The study reads:

"Children employed 52 distinct gestures, 46 (89 percent) of which are present in the chimpanzee repertoire.

"Like chimpanzees, they used them both singly, and in sequences, and employed individual gestures flexibly towards different goals."