Genes for speech may not be limited to humans

Very interesting article in Medical Express which extends our knowledge of the widespread effects of the FOXP2 "speech articulation" gene throughout the animal kingdom. Erich Jarvis (better known for his research on bird vocalisation) has been looking at FOXP2 heterozygotes in mice and has shown that they suffer from ultrasonic vocalisation defects compared with normal wild-type mice. Clearly, FOXP2 has important effects on brain wiring for speech / vocalisation that greatly precede the emergence of human language. Here is a link to the source paper.

Chimps May Be Capable of Comprehending the Minds of Others

What a turn up for the books! This article in Scientific American - about research at the Max Planck Institute which has come up with a novel chimp-relevant way of testing for theory of mind - suggests that chimps know more than other tests reveal about the hidden workings of the minds of others.

2nd Tool-Using Crow Species Found

Scientists from the University of St. Andrews report their research on tool use in an endangered Hawaiian crow. The source paper is here in Nature.

Birds have primate-like numbers of neurons in the forebrain

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2016/06/07/1517131113.abstract.html?etoc
Never call someone a "bird brain" again! This report has been a long time coming and shows that many bird species cram an unbelievable number of neurons into the forebrain of brains no bigger than a nut. There are more neurons in the forebrain of a bird with a brain the size of a walnut than a macaque with a brain the size of a lemon. 

Ravens attribute visual access to unseen competitors

http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2016/160202/ncomms10506/pdf/ncomms10506.pdf
A brilliantly inventive experimental protocol to try and establish whether or not ravens actually have a "theory of mind" by Tomas Bugnyar and colleagues. Will they change their food caching behaviour without seeing another raven witnessing them but on the suspicion that another raven might be in the vicinity (they can hear a raven call) and might be able to overlook (they understand that a peep hole in the wall of their enclosure could allow another individual to peep.) Bugbear says that by these criteria ravens do have a "theory of mind". They can imagine a situation in which another raven could  see what they are doing and change behaviour accordingly.

Specific changes to non-coding RNA may be part of what makes us human

http://phys.org/news/2016-05-specific-non-coding-rna-human.html

Humans are the highest energy apes, making us smarter—but also fatter

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/05/humans-are-highest-energy-apes-making-us-smarter-also-fatter?utm_campaign=news_weekly_2016-05-06&et_rid=40185312&et_cid=469387
Lovely news for those like me who have been arguing for years for a "proper" distance to be drawn between us and the rest of the higher primates.

Despite their small brains—ravens are just as clever as chimps

http://phys.org/news/2016-04-small-brainsravens-clever-chimps.html

Syntax is not unique to human language – the Japanese great tits “speak” in phrases too

http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=161792&CultureCode=en

Chimpanzee accumulative stone throwing

http://www.nature.com/articles/srep22219?WT.ec_id=SREP-631-20160301&spMailingID=50865547&spUserID=NzI1NTQ2NjU4NAS2&spJobID=880986484&spReportId=ODgwOTg2NDg0S0

Some birds are just as smart as apes: Researchers figure out similarities in brain architecture

http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=161717&CultureCode=en
One of the authors of this report, Tomas Bugnyar, has done fascinating working the past on corvid intelligence.