Even as humans give up civilised speech, monkeys are chirping in

A conversation is a verbal exchange of some duration between two or more individuals. In the age of instant messaging , emails and other non-aural forms of communication, the gentle art of conversation has largely been given the goby , at least by the human species.

It is heartening to learn, therefore, that as the joys of technology remain generally beyond the ken of other species — especially our mammalian cousins — they are now the custodians of this dying art of dialogue.

Monkeys have been sorely misrepresented by humans as being creatures of chaos and cacophony. But research has revealed that the tiny monkey species called marmosets prefer the courteous, mutual exchange of views that was once the hallmark of homo sapiens’ “conversation” , and rarely indulge either in monologues or rude interruptions that seem to pepper human discourse these days.

Marmosets speak and then wait for their interlocutors to respond before proceeding any further,and the parleys often continue up to half an hour at a stretch. Such simian politeness is commendable ,as very few humans conduct such decorous tête-à-têtes on a voluntary basis; interviews and presentations do not count.
Intriguingly, the lead researcher says a big brain isn’t a prerequisite for carrying on conversations . That should be good for a chat or two.