Introduction
Vocal learning is the ability to imitate sounds. Human babies naturally develop this skill. Scientists believed that animals couldn’t produce human-like syllables, leading them to think that chimpanzees couldn’t learn language. New research challenges this idea and suggests that chimpanzees are possibly more like humans that once thought.
Implications
The research deepens our understanding of how language and communication evolve. Human infants can vocalize syllables like “mama.” This study shows that chimpanzees may be capable of similar sounds. Learning about the vocal similarities between humans and chimpanzees can help researchers further explore the evolution of vocal learning.
Methods
Researchers found old recordings of two chimpanzees saying the word “mama.” They asked 61 participants to listen to a mix of sounds from people with speech disorders and chimpanzees. The researchers asked the listeners to identify “ma” or “wa” sounds from the recordings. The researchers did not inform the participants of the inclusion of animal sounds. Thus, this allowed researchers to assess if participants could tell the difference without prior knowledge.
Findings
The researchers noticed that most participants identified the syllable /m/ from the chimpanzee recordings. For one of the chimpanzees, an incomplete lip closure made some listeners hear the sound /w/ instead of /m/. Overall, participants recognized the word “mama” from the chimpanzee sounds. This suggests that chimpanzees use a mix of mouth, jaw, and lips to produce sounds. This discovery helps researchers expand their understanding of the vocal abilities of both humans and chimpanzees.
Limitations
The study has some limitations. For one, researchers only examined two audio clips from two chimpanzees. Since the sample size is small, it does not necessarily represent all wild chimpanzees. This limits the ability to generalize the findings. Also, the chimpanzees in the study received exposure to human-like environments. This could have influenced their vocal abilities. Future studies should include a larger, diverse sample of chimpanzees to ensure findings portray the entire species.
References
Ekström, A. G., Gannon, C., Edlund, J., Moran, S., & Lameira, A. R. (2024). Chimpanzee utterances refute purported missing links for novel vocalizations and Syllabic Speech. Scientific Reports, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-67005-w
Thumbnail Image Credit
Tambako the Jaguar. (2013). Giving a hand to the chimp – stock photo [photograph].getty images.https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/photo/giving-a-hand-to-the-chimp-royalty-free-image/162308647?adppopup=true
About the Author
Samira Kulsum Ahmed is currently in her third year of the Honours Life Sciences program at McMaster University. She has a passion for equitable healthcare, and is pursuing a concurrent certificate in science communication. You can reach her at: ahmes176@mcmaster.ca.
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