Scientists discovered that wild gibbons in Thailand have crafted unique songs as alarm calls to other gibbons, a discovery that might shed light on the evolution of spoken language.
The sounds that animals make are traditionally thought of simply as signs of their basic mood. At times, however, animal sounds are used to communicate specific details about the world to others.
For instance, vervet monkeys give one kind of call if they see a snake, prompting others to search the ground, and another type of cry if they see an eagle, leading others to watch the sky, explained study team member Klaus Zuberbhler, a psychologist and primatologist at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. This is known as "referential signaling."
Gibbons are known for their loud, elaborate songs every morning, often coordinating in duets with their mates. These can be heard up to miles away through dense forest.
Primatologists led by Esther Clarke of the University of St. Andrews observed white-handed gibbons at Khao Yai National Park in Thailand. To see how these primates might respond to predators, the researchers built fake animals that resembled typical gibbon predators.
The gibbons spend much of their lives on tree branches 60 to 100 feet off the ground. But when they spotted the models, which were usually just a few feet off the ground, they descended to within 15 or 30 feet of the predators and sang at them. The gibbon's approach might be "to alert a predator to the fact that it's been seen, and thus there's no point in hunting anymore."
Gibbon songs are crescendos of up to seven sounds dubbed notes, such as "wa" "hoo" and "waoo." The scientists found that while the gibbons used the same notes in all of their songs, they arranged the notes differently for duets and those to alarm predators, particularly in the first 10 notes of the songs. This is the first time such communication has been confirmed in free-ranging primates outside humans. The finding could have implications for the evoulution and development of human language.
Their evidence suggests the gibbons also sing different songs depending on the kind of predator, Zuberbhler said, but further research is needed to confirm this.
Full text report : The Syntax and Meaning of Wild Gibbon Songs
Related topics : Chimpanzees found to use tools to hunt mammalian prey
The sounds that animals make are traditionally thought of simply as signs of their basic mood. At times, however, animal sounds are used to communicate specific details about the world to others.
For instance, vervet monkeys give one kind of call if they see a snake, prompting others to search the ground, and another type of cry if they see an eagle, leading others to watch the sky, explained study team member Klaus Zuberbhler, a psychologist and primatologist at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. This is known as "referential signaling."
Gibbons are known for their loud, elaborate songs every morning, often coordinating in duets with their mates. These can be heard up to miles away through dense forest.
Primatologists led by Esther Clarke of the University of St. Andrews observed white-handed gibbons at Khao Yai National Park in Thailand. To see how these primates might respond to predators, the researchers built fake animals that resembled typical gibbon predators.
The gibbons spend much of their lives on tree branches 60 to 100 feet off the ground. But when they spotted the models, which were usually just a few feet off the ground, they descended to within 15 or 30 feet of the predators and sang at them. The gibbon's approach might be "to alert a predator to the fact that it's been seen, and thus there's no point in hunting anymore."
Gibbon songs are crescendos of up to seven sounds dubbed notes, such as "wa" "hoo" and "waoo." The scientists found that while the gibbons used the same notes in all of their songs, they arranged the notes differently for duets and those to alarm predators, particularly in the first 10 notes of the songs. This is the first time such communication has been confirmed in free-ranging primates outside humans. The finding could have implications for the evoulution and development of human language.
Their evidence suggests the gibbons also sing different songs depending on the kind of predator, Zuberbhler said, but further research is needed to confirm this.
Full text report : The Syntax and Meaning of Wild Gibbon Songs
Related topics : Chimpanzees found to use tools to hunt mammalian prey
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