MSGID: 1:317/3 649bb773   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Orangutans can make two sounds at the same time, similar to human   
   beatboxing, study finds    
      
     Date:   
         June 27, 2023   
     Source:   
         University of Warwick   
     Summary:   
         Orangutans can make two separate sounds simultaneously, much like   
         songbirds or human beatboxers, according to a new study.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
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   Orangutans can make two separate sounds simultaneously, much like   
   songbirds or human beatboxers, according to a study led by the University   
   of Warwick.   
      
   Academics say the findings provide clues around the evolution of human   
   speech, as well as human beatboxing.   
      
   Scientists observed two populations of vocalising orangutans in Borneo   
   and Sumatra across a total of 3800 hours and found primates within both   
   groups used the same vocal phenomenon.   
      
   Dr Adriano Lameira, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of   
   Warwick said: "Humans use the lips, tongue, and jaw to make the unvoiced   
   sounds of consonants, while activating the vocal folds in the larynx   
   with exhaled air to make the voiced, open sounds of vowels.   
      
   "Orangutans are also capable of producing both types of sounds -- and   
   both at once.   
      
   "For example, large male orangutans in Borneo will produce noises known as   
   "chomps" in combination with "grumbles" in combative situations. Female   
   orangutans in Sumatra produce "kiss squeaks" at the same time as "rolling   
   calls" to alert others of a possible predator threat.   
      
   "The fact that two separate populations of orangutans were observed making   
   two calls simultaneously, is proof that this is a biological phenomenon.   
      
   Co-author and independent researcher Madeleine Hardus added: "Humans   
   rarely produce voiced and voiceless noises simultaneously. The exception   
   is beatboxing, a skilled vocal performance which mimicks the complex   
   beats of hip hop music.   
      
   "But the very fact that humans are anatomically able to beatbox, raises   
   questions about where that ability came from. We know now the answer could   
   lie within the evolution of our ancestors."  According to the authors,   
   the vocal control and coordination abilities of wild great apes have   
   been underestimated compared to the focus on the vocal abilities of birds.   
      
   "Producing two sounds, exactly how birds produce song, resembles spoken   
   language but bird anatomy has no similarity to our own so it is difficult   
   to make links between birdsong, and spoken human language," continued   
   Dr Hardus.   
      
   The new research has implications for the vocal capabilities of our   
   shared ancestors and for the evolution of human speech -- as well as   
   human beatboxing.   
      
   Dr Lameira said: "Now that we know this vocal ability is part of the   
   great ape repertoire, we can't ignore the evolutionary links.   
      
   "It could be possible that early human language resembled something that   
   sounded more like beatboxing, before evolution organised language into   
   the consonant -- vowel structure that we know today."   
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Plants_&_Animals   
                   # Apes # Nature # Evolutionary_Biology # Biology   
             o Earth_&_Climate   
                   # Grassland   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Orangutan o Human_cloning o Gibbon o Anatomy o Whale_song   
             o Hominidae o Biology o Neurobiology   
      
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   Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Warwick. Note: Content   
   may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
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   Journal Reference:   
      1. Adriano R Lameira, Madeleine E Hardus. Wild orangutans can   
      simultaneously   
         use two independent vocal sound sources similarly to   
         songbirds and human beatboxers. PNAS Nexus, 2023; 2 (6) DOI:   
         10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad182   
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   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230627123117.htm   
      
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