Are we humans simply remodelled apes? Chimps with a tweak? Is the difference between our genomes so minuscule it justifies the argument that our cognition and behaviour must also differ from chimps by barely a whisker? If “chimps are us” should we grant them human rights? Or is this one of the biggest fallacies in the study of evolution? NOT A CHIMP argues that these similarities have been grossly over-exaggerated - we should keep chimps at arm’s length. Are humans cognitively unique after all?
Tuesday, 9 June 2009
Siberian Jays Use Complex Alarm Calls
Scientists from Uppsala University, studying Siberian jays, have discovered that they have evolved a complex system of alarm calls every bit as sophisticated as those of primates and meerkats. When mobbing a predator they utter calls that vary according to both the level of risk the predator poses and whether or not the species concerned is a strong predator on jays. For instance, they have calls specific to hawks and owls, two main jay predators. Their calls also vary dependent on the social constitution of the mobbing jays. Family group calls are different to calls when the jays are unrelated, for instance. This is yet another aspect of the complex cognition we have come to associate with the corvid family of birds.
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