From: H.M. Hubey
Message: 743
Date: 2003-06-26
| Subject: | [evol-psych] Monkeys link faces and sounds |
|---|---|
| Date: | Thu, 26 Jun 2003 08:24:57 +0100 |
| From: | Ian Pitchford <ian.pitchford@...> |
| Reply-To: | Ian Pitchford <ian.pitchford@...> |
| Organization: | http://human-nature.com |
| To: | evolutionary-psychology@yahoogroups.com |
Nature Science Update Monkeys link faces and sounds Humans may have evolved a language skill from primate ancestors. 26 June 2003 HELEN R. PILCHER Rhesus monkeys can match up sounds and facial expressions, research suggests1. It hints that our capacity to do likewise may have evolved from our primate ancestors. "Some people had thought that the ability was unique to humans," says Asif Ghazanfar of the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Germany, who studied the monkeys. Other animals had simply not been tested. In captivity and the wild, rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) produce a variety of noises. "Almost all have a unique facial expression," says Ghazanfar. Two calls tip the top 15 sounds in the rhesus repertoire. Animals in danger make a short, sharp threatening call - eyes wide, ears flat, mouth wide open. If times are good, they may 'coo', with lips pouting and open just a little. Ghazanfar showed 11 adult monkeys silent side-by-side videos of threat and coo expressions. When he played the sound of one call, the animals looked straight at the matching face, he found. Over 65% of the monkeys got it right without any training. Full text http://www.nature.com/nsu/030623/030623-8.html References Ghazanfar, A. A. & Logothetis, N. K. Facial expressions linked to monkey calls. Nature, 423, 937 - 938, (2003). http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/423937a News in Brain and Behavioural Sciences - Issue 100 - 22nd June, 2003 http://human-nature.com/nibbs/issue100.html Human Nature Review http://human-nature.com/ Evolutionary Psychology http://human-nature.com/ep/ Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
-- Mark Hubey hubeyh@... http://www.csam.montclair.edu/~hubey