Maybe I'm just stoned, but I thought this was fascinating.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2185477,00.html


The putty-nosed monkeys, Cercopithecus nictitans, of the Gashaka Gumti National Park, have two main alarm call sounds. A sound known onomatopoeically as the “pyow” warns other animals against a lurking leopard, and a cough-like sound that scientists call a “hack” is used when an eagle is hovering near by.

Kate Arnold and Klaus Zuberbühler, of the University of St Andrews, have now observed the monkeys using these sounds in a new way. A particular sequence of pyows and hacks appears to mean something entirely different.

The monkeys live in groups consisting of a single adult male accompanied by several adult females and their young. When the male utters this “sentence”, consisting of up to three pyows followed by up to four hacks, it seems to be a command telling others to move,generally to find safer, less exposed terrain.

Not sure I would call those sentences, but new discoveries on undeniable tool use and language in monkeys is shaking up the status quo.

Very cool.... Yeah, I was going to say that unless they know a lot more than is reported, I would hesitate to call this a sentence. It's a "complete thought" but I doubt it has a grammar to it. The more we know about animal communication, though, the better we understand them.

I think that's why "sentence" is in parenthesis. :p

From the article: "Dr Zuberbühler said: 'To our knowledge, this is the first good evidence of a syntax-like natural communication system in a non-human species.'"

I guess that's what makes it like a sentence. Anyway, it's amazing that they have "syntax-like" patterns in their communication.. monkeys are cool. :cool:

what seperates man from the animals...
is that man hates.

*troubs in a cynical mood*


but yeah thats awesome. im always facninated on the particulars of animal language. dolphins especialy ^_^

I was gonna post this before but noticed it was already here. It's pretty cool!!! Of course animals communicate - there's so much we don't know about their lives. This is just the tip of the iceberg. :)