Speech and Birdsongs Reflect Convergent Evolutionary History

The primary difference between speech and birdsong is that speech has function and meaning, whereas birdsongs have function alone. [...] bird brains have a number of specialized areas devoted to song alone, but speech production is tangled with the sensorimotor neurons that point attention to differ...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bioscience 2011-03, Vol.61 (3), p.248-248
Main Author: Bolles, Edmund Blair
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aural learning
BioBriefs
Bird songs
Birds
Brain
Cultural Influences
Humans
Larynx
Males
NEWS AND OPINION
Singing
Songbirds
Sound
Speech
Warblers
Online Access:Get full text
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Description
Summary:The primary difference between speech and birdsong is that speech has function and meaning, whereas birdsongs have function alone. [...] bird brains have a number of specialized areas devoted to song alone, but speech production is tangled with the sensorimotor neurons that point attention to different meanings.
ISSN:0006-3568
1525-3244
DOI:10.1525/bio.2011.61.3.15