Look at this
It may not sound familiar. But researchers say that the odd gurgling and lip-smacking noises made by gelada baboons may shed light on the origins of human speech.
Thore Bergman, assistant professor at University of Michigan, and head author of the study, told Yahoo News in an email that geladas made perfect subjects for looking into the development of human speech.
Noting that this kind of vocalizing has not been found in other primates, it had been mysterious how the closest relatives to humans made no sounds close to human -- except for gelada baboons, found only in Ethiopia. He wrote, “I knew that geladas had several features that made them interesting research subjects--including large, complex social groups and a diverse repertoire of sounds.”
Researchers tracked dozens of baboons, recognized individually, in Ethiopia’s Simien Mountains National Park, where they recorded the gelada vocalizations on to, wait for it, Palm Pilots.
The findings, published in Current Biology and surfaced by BBC News, assert that the vocalizations share similarities with human ancestors’ early speech.
Bergman added, “The finding supports the hypothesis that others had previously proposed that lip-smacking may be a potential precursor to speech because it shows that primates can indeed vocalize while lip-smacking to produce complex sounds.”
Bergman further explained to the BBC that the next step is to study the purpose of the sounds, which he believes the gelada use to bond with others in their group, sort of baboon-style small talk.
