Friendly lip-smacks made by a large African monkey show striking similarities with human speech, say scientists.
Geladas, close cousins of the baboon that only live in the remote mountains of Ethiopia, produce “unnerving” sounds that can easily be mistaken for human voices.
Researchers who analyzed recordings of the vocalisations uncovered a structural rhythm that closes matched that of people speaking.
They believe the evidence points to lip-smacking – a friendly behavior displayed by many primates – being an evolutionary step towards speech.
“Our finding provides support for the lip-smacking origins of speech because it shows that this evolutionary pathway is plausible,” said lead scientist Prof Thore Bergman, from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, US. “It demonstrates that non-human primates can vocalise while lip-smacking to produce speech-like sounds.”
Prof Bergman became fascinated by the geladas’ sounds while observing the monkeys in 2006.
“I would find myself frequently looking over my shoulder to see who was talking to me, but it was just the geladas,” he said. “It was unnerving to have primate vocalisations sound so much like human voices.”
Source : http://www.thefridaypost.com/index.php/monkeys-show-signs-of-speech/
Geladas, close cousins of the baboon that only live in the remote mountains of Ethiopia, produce “unnerving” sounds that can easily be mistaken for human voices.
Researchers who analyzed recordings of the vocalisations uncovered a structural rhythm that closes matched that of people speaking.
They believe the evidence points to lip-smacking – a friendly behavior displayed by many primates – being an evolutionary step towards speech.
“Our finding provides support for the lip-smacking origins of speech because it shows that this evolutionary pathway is plausible,” said lead scientist Prof Thore Bergman, from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, US. “It demonstrates that non-human primates can vocalise while lip-smacking to produce speech-like sounds.”
Prof Bergman became fascinated by the geladas’ sounds while observing the monkeys in 2006.
“I would find myself frequently looking over my shoulder to see who was talking to me, but it was just the geladas,” he said. “It was unnerving to have primate vocalisations sound so much like human voices.”
Source : http://www.thefridaypost.com/index.php/monkeys-show-signs-of-speech/
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