Lameira, AR, Hardus, ME, Mielke, A, Wich, SA and Shumaker, RW (2016) Vocal fold control beyond the species-specific repertoire in an orang-utan. Scientific Reports, 6. ISSN 2045-2322

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Abstract

Vocal fold control was critical to the evolution of spoken language, much as it today allows us to learn vowel systems. It has, however, never been demonstrated directly in a non-human primate, leading to the suggestion that it evolved in the human lineage after divergence from great apes. Here, we provide the first evidence for real-time, dynamic and interactive vocal fold control in a great ape during an imitation “do-as-I-do” game with a human demonstrator. Notably, the orang utan subject skilfully produced “wookies” – an idiosyncratic vocalization exhibiting a unique spectral profile among the orang-utan vocal repertoire. The subject instantaneously matched human-produced wookies as they were randomly modulated in pitch, adjusting his voice frequency up or down when the human demonstrator did so, readily generating distinct low vs. high frequency sub-variants. These sub-variants were significantly different from spontaneous ones (not produced in matching trials). Results indicate a latent capacity for vocal fold exercise in a great ape (i) in real-time, (ii) up and down the frequency spectrum, (iii) across a register range beyond the species-repertoire and, (iv) in a co-operative turn-taking social setup. Such ancestral capacity likely provided the neuro-behavioural basis of the more fine-tuned vocal fold control that is a human hallmark.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	Q Science > QH Natural history
Divisions:	Natural Sciences & Psychology (closed 31 Aug 19)
Publisher:	Nature Publishing Group: Open Access Journals - Option C
Date Deposited:	04 Jul 2016 08:18
Last Modified:	04 Sep 2021 12:45
DOI or ID number:	10.1038/srep30315
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/3838

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