Jingszo !

Until recently, many scientists believed only humans could build layered vocal structures. This belief helped reinforce the idea of a divide between us and other animals.

But our discovery adds to a growing body of research showing this divide may not be so clear-cut. Studies on great apes and other animals such as lemurs, whales and dolphins have revealed they are capable of rhythmic structuring, vocal learning, combining signals and sounds to make new ones, and even using vowels and consonants. These findings suggest the roots of language may lie in shared evolutionary mechanisms.

Human language is unique in many ways. But it probably did not appear suddenly. Even the most striking traits in life evolve by reshaping what already exists, through the slow work of variation and natural selection. Our work suggests the brain systems needed to build recursive patterns were present in our ancestors millions of years ago.