Adventure Ausrama Blog

Until recently the earliest language pathway was believed to have originated 5 million years ago. However, it seems that the auditory system was evolving toward language in nonhuman primates 25 million years ago. This conclusion was reached after brain scans of humans, apes and monkeys. The auditory system found in other primates is an evolutionary forerunner of the human language pathway. Therefore, there is a clear evolutionary path toward auditory cognition and vocal communication. Language capability is nascent in nonhuman primates. Proof of early language development was there all the time but was never understood before. Analysis of the human brain shows a strong structure on the left side of the language pathway. The right side has changed from what it was in other primates: it has diverged into non-auditory parts of the brain. It is now believed that the path to language capability began more than 25 million years, probably in preprimate animals. Brain scans of n...

Humans aren't that special. It was once thought that people were superior to chimpanzees because humans had feelings and showed love. We all know now that chimps do have these propensities. Other animals weren't even considered in the "advanced" creature stakes. Time has shown that many animals use tools to find food. Pets such as dogs tend to mimic their owners. They say you grow like your partner and if your companion is a dog then the dog copies you, and heaven forbid you copy the dog. So strong is this bond that dogs will actually give up food rewards to do what their owners do. Researchers had two groups of pet dogs. Their owners went on hands and knees and opened a sliding door with their heads and closed hands. One group of dogs was rewarded for opening the door. The other group was reward with food for not doing what their owners did. All dogs opened the door after their owners - foregoing the food reward. Clearly dogs learn like humans. They copy. Dogs ...