Scientists Tickled Gorillas And Found An Old Clue To How Humans Learned Speech
A study from the University of Warwick suggests that human laughter shares rhythmic patterns with other great apes, indicating that vocal control evolved over 15 million years. Researchers believe this evolutionary history of laughter provided the foundation for the development of human speech.
Why it matters
This research provides new insights into the evolutionary origins of human communication and the biological precursors to complex speech.
Topline The vocal control underpinning human speech was not a sudden evolutionary leap, but a 15-million-year work in progress, according to researchers at the University of Warwick who tickled gorillas and recorded chimpanzee play sessions to make the discovery.
The report is a straightforward summary of a scientific study published in a peer-reviewed journal.
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