Final answer:
Great apes have the capacity to use signs and symbols to communicate, but there is debate about whether this ability is innate or taught. Examples of great apes using sign language include Koko the gorilla and the bonobos Kanzi and Panbanisha.
Step-by-step explanation:
Several language experiments with chimpanzees, orangutans, gorillas, and bonobos have shown that all great apes have the capacity to use signs and symbols to communicate. However, questions have been raised about this type of research.
Research has shown that human-reared great apes can use gestures or tokens to refer to things in their environment and engage in rule-based communication. This indicates that great apes have the basic capacity for some form of protolanguage. However, there is debate among linguists about whether these abilities stem from an innate capacity or from being taught symbolic systems.
Examples of great apes using sign language include Koko the gorilla, who learned about a thousand signs, and the bonobos Kanzi and Panbanisha, who demonstrated advanced linguistic skills by using lexigrams on a keyboard.