The Complex Communication of Gibbons Essay

Non-human primates’ communication based on a limited range of sounds and gestures. Human communication is far more focused on the use of oral sounds. The human voice and non-human primate vocalizations are characterized by important differences. Our speech is radically different from other sounds used by non-human primates to communicate. Vocal perception abilities through conspecific vocalizations are important in social interactions. Only human possess speech perception to communicate in a highly efficient manner (Belin, 2006). Human and non-human primates’ vocalization differs in the morphology of the vocal apparatus and acoustic structure (Fitch 2000, 2003). Primates such as monkeys possess vocal folds in the vocal tract which are absent in humans (Schon Ybarra 1995). The larynx in the vocal tract of human is much lower compared to the non-human primates. The lowered larynx allows the increase of flexibility of the tongue and thus yielding a large range of frequencies. In contrast, higher larynx leads to inflexibility of the tongue thus limiting the non-human primates’ ability to yield acoustically distinct sounds through their vocal tract (Belin, 2006). In addition, non-human primates do not use their tongue to modify the shape of the vocal tract for the production of sound. The distinct production of human speech involves

Some apes are able to communicate intelligently with humans effectively. This is shown in a video clip from 60 Minutes where Ross Coulthart interviews Penny Patterson, caretaker of an ape known as Koko. Patterson attained her PhD in psychology from Stanford University in 1972 and has worked with Koko ever since. She says that she has taught Koko how to sign one-thousand words and that Koko is able to understand an additional two-thousand. Coulthart mentions in the video clip that Koko has also created her own signs. For example, she did not know how to sign the word ring, so she signed “finger bracelet” instead; she also called a mask an “eye hat.” When she didn’t know how to sign a word, she created her own sign to be able get her point across. This shows that apes are not simply doing what their caretakers are telling them to do to receive treats, but instead are actually communicating and can comprehend what they are signing. Coulthart also explains why there are still many people in the scientific community

“Chimpanzees have been found to extensively and flexibly use gestural communication, even developing novel gestures in new situations” (Larsen, 210). They show different communicative responses specific to their groups and regions. This indicates that vocal features can be transmitted through social learning. Chimpanzee mothers and infants communicate through distinct vocalizations and gestures (Hirata, 2009). In 2008, Hirata observed several interactions between mothers and infants in captivity. When infants were still young and immature, mothers would help their infants move. When the mothers walked long distances in situations that their young would have trouble traveling alone, the mother would communicate with her infant and they would travel together with the mother carrying the infant. For example, before even traveling one mother stretched out her hand toward her offspring who was somewhat far from her. The infant then approached its mother to take her hand and the mother cradled the infant and moved from one spot to another while carrying her infant. Hirata indicated that mothers will determine the goal of travel in advance and proceed by carrying their young if it is necessary. This is done through communication in advance using several types of gestures and vocals. The range of gestural communication is greater compared to facial and vocal signals.

Within this essay, we will study more in depth the behavioral as well as physical traits of two primates at a zoo from their interaction with their peers to their place in the group. This observation would enable us to further understand the possible existing correlation between humans and primates. First, I studied a female chimpanzee with her baby, and then, a dominant male gorilla, in San Francisco Zoo at about noon, on May 23, 2015, for an hour each. Even though they share some similarities such as having a large brain, living for a long time, and being bored in their enclosure, they are still different; when gorillas are the largest, chimpanzees are the smartest. In fact, chimps use tools to catch food, they would not be able to reach

Introduction This first lecture is designed to introduce the primate order in terms of its classification and to familiarise you with the animals so that the rest of the course makes some sort of sense. I will cover a working definition of what makes a primate, give you a general classification scheme, describe the major features that identify the groups within the classification and discuss some of the controversial areas of the classification. I shall treat the taxonomy as a synonym for classification which seems to be its commonest current usage, although you should be aware that some people consider taxonomy to be more about the principles behind the classification than the classification itself.

The Bonobo monkey can learn and use language. In Des Moines, Iowa, a twenty six year old Bonobo Kanzi, can communicate through many symbols. As it states in Source one,”... the symbols refer to familiar objects…” This sentence shows that Kanzi has been trained to recognize everyday objects that resemble the many symbols. Kanzi combined symbols to create larger meanings.

Primates have always been viewed as a species that communicates by hand signals and other bodily gestures. The view that is now seen is that “comparative evidence suggests that primates are able, no less than humans, to intellectually perform and understand impulsive or habitual communicational

In the end, the Golden – Cheeked Gibbon is a fascinating primate that has a unique style of motion and call. While I did not experience that call that the gibbon uses to either have a mating partner or claim its own territory, it does exist. Their way of moving throughout the enclosure is fascinating to watch as they swing their long arms around. Moving from prop to prop they are easily able to move from one side of the enclosure in under ten seconds. The primates provided key examples on similarities that humans share with these animals, and other primates. The interaction

Language is a form of communication and can be portrayed in many different ways not just vocalization, this is shown by those that use sign language rather than vocalization; these humans still have complex language but they lack the necessary organs or capabilities to produce all of the sounds needed for vocal language; similarly, some non-human primates use different interactions as language not just production and combinations of sounds. Non-human primates do not have the ability to vocalize the way humans do because they lack vocal cords, control of the necessary vocalization, and other speech organs, but that does not mean that they cannot effectively communicate through language with other non-human primates or with humans as well.

Moreover, one of the key elements of biological anthropology is the concept of the behavioral aspects of humans and non-human primates, as well as their correlation to one another as ancestors. Not only does this piece discuss the behavior of the great apes, but it also compares those behaviors to that of humans. The understanding of false beliefs among great apes is only one of a multitude of way that humans and non-human primates share similarities. The evidence provided further establishes the importance of studying the two in relation to one another. Therefore, there is a direct tie to this field of anthropology in this

The rarity of human uniqueness no longer exists in the thoughts of scientists believing that human ability skills lie within the construction and use of tools. As declared by Goodall in which chimpanzees used straight sticks after removing the leaves and branches to collect termites or ants for consumption. (Goodall, 1986) Other species both primate and non-primate demonstrate successful abilities., which include a sense of self as well as the theory of mind, by which other species recognize that other individuals contain different information than themselves. Different species also have the ability to communicate symbolically to one another through the sounds of vocalization. (Sapolsky R. M., 2006)

The first topic addressed in this book that I will focus on is the social behavior of apes, specifically on courting rituals and mating behavior, such as the love dance performed by the “humans” in the novel. The second topic is the (in)capability of apes to produce human speech. In the novel, the apes all speak human language, but in reality, this is not a likely possibility.

Linguistic relativity is the notion that language can affect our thought processes, and is often referred to as the ‘Sapir-Whorf hypothesis’, after the two linguists who brought the idea into the spotlight. Whorf writes how “Language is not merely a reproducing instrument for voicing ideas but rather is itself the shaper of ideas, the program and guide for the individual’s mental activity” (1956:212), and I will explain how it is able to do so. In this essay I will argue that certain ways of mental categorization, spatial cognition and reality interpretation, based on the characteristics of our specific variety of language, influence our perception of the world. I will discuss how languages divide up nature differently, and

Like human beings, animals also communicate among themselves through gestures and body movements. Monkeys always carry their

The article is structured in an organized matter he explains his experiment in the first section, giving background history on the subject (language) and gives a brief explanation on his main points. He later explains his main points each one separately and in his conclusion explains how all of his arguments together play a significant role in language. The purpose of this article is to prove that there are more underlying keys that make human unique beside language and recursion. Also, to prove that humans have preexisting conditions that allow them to speak and understand language. However, he also investigates why animals do not evolve any language. He conducts this experiment by testing on tamarin monkeys and discovers that these monkeys do not recombine mental elements to learn recursive- and non- recursive language. The logic his analysis is clear and states the points that play a part in the process of language. For example, voluntary control of sensory- motor systems this explains the preexisting capacity that humans have, which is