Bonobos demonstrate astounding language skills (NPR-transcript via ra)
(Via robot wisdom weblog.)
This is pretty interesting stuff. Still, there's not a lot in the radio report to prove to a skeptic that the Bonobos are actually using language. It's a pretty breathless report, and there was a lot in it that seemed a bit on the credulous side to me. The Wiki piece on Great Apes and language is helpful, and this short news article is interesting, too. Since Ape language research has the potential to throw a real, er, monkey wrench into theories of linguistics, you have to be careful of established scientists who might be protecting their jobs. At the same time, you have to be careful of being too believing of these experiments; from what I've read, many of the classic experiments sort of disappear when you look closer at them, an seem a bit sketchy. Of course, I'm no expert. I was just disappointed in the credulous tone of this program.
5:20:33 PM 
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