This explains why threat gestures are performed, but doesn’t explain why they aren’t followed by physical attacks. Wouldn’t chimps still want to attack others they’re angry at, even if they’ve demonstrated their status?

If threat gestures can help chimps vent and thereby avoid physical aggression, this explain why the gestures usually don’t result in physical attacks. The gestures help reduce the chimp’s aggressive feelings, which reduces the likelihood of physical attacks.

This doesn’t change our expectations about threat gestures. If they’re means of displaying aggression, wouldn’t we expect physical attacks to follow?

But why don’t chimps usually attack each other after making threat gestures? We still don’t know.

This deepens our confusion. Why are threat gestures rarely followed by physical attacks? This answer merely points out an extreme example of threats not being followed by attacks. We still don’t know why the attacks fail to occur.