« American Idol Live Recap | Main | And Maybe a Parental Warning Label Too »

May 17, 2006

The Evolution of Language

One more thing that may no longer separate us from all other animals:

MONKEYS are able to string together a simple “sentence”, according to research that offers the first evidence that animals might be capable of a key feature of language.

British scientists have discovered that the putty-nosed monkey in Nigeria pictured above sometimes communicates by combining sounds into a sequence that has a different meaning from any of its component calls, an ability that was thought to be uniquely human.

Of course, the monkeys have known for years that we're not that far removed from them, ever since they first caught a Dubya speech on television*.

Note: Another interesting article, this time on human speech development.

* Hey, I voted for him. I can make such jokes.