Small-scale spatial variation in meerkat vocalization

Abstract

Language is central to human life. Yet, its evolutionary origins remain subject to debate. To understand how language evolved, it is necessary to study analogs in other species, where simpler forms of communication provide clues to its development. Vocal learning, the ability to acquire and produce new sounds and words through imitation, which is a key feature of human language, is rare among primates but essential for adapting communi- cation to social contexts. It presents an opportunity to study a critical aspect of language evolut Show more