Koko, the gorilla who can talk with her hands

The origin of language is one of the unknowns that creates more discussion among anthropologists. Are we the only animals with a language with grammar? Did our ancestors speak? Do animals communicate only by imitating simple sounds? This article will attempt to address these issues and introduce Koko, the gorilla who learned sign language.

CAN ANIMALS SPEAK ?

Clearly most living beings communicate in some way, either through visual, olfactory or chemical, acoustic signals… The clearest case we have close is barking, meowing… but also plants can communicate.

You have probably ever heard a parrot or parakeet say words, even the crows are great imitators. But it is just that, an imitation of few words. They are unable to make sentences or use the words they know to express new concepts. Or have a conversation. Sometimes scientists have educated baby apes as humans, in an attempt to teach them to speak. They never made it.

WHAT IS NECESSARY TO SPEAK ?

Given the depth of the subject, we can summarize that to talk is essential to have the necessary cognitive capabilities and a physical vocal apparatus that enables control of entry and exit of air in a certain way . Since some animals like whales, birds or apes have high cognitive abilities, why they do not start talking the same way as us? We begin to understand their way of communicating, so it is possible that some possess some sort of grammar, or a language such as dolphins or some birds. Or maybe we should clarify what is language. In this post we will focus on the case of primates, especially gorillas and chimpanzees.

VOCAL APPARATUS

The larynx contains the vocal cords. Notice the difference between a human and a chimpanzee:

Vocal apparatus of a chimpanzee and a human. Unknown author. Photo taken from UOC

Humans have the vocal cords in a lower postion, and we have a shortest oral and nasal cavity. To produce vocals clearly, the oral communication core, the larynx must be in a low position. That is why chimpanzees, cannot talk due to their physical limitations.

 

Model with the different positions of the vocal apparatus necessary to pronounce vocals. Photo by Mireia Querol, CosmoCaixa, Barcelona.

To investigate whether our ancestors could talk, studies focus mainly on the morphology of the hyoid bone, the position of the pharynx, the base of the skull and the brain impressions inside the skull. Recent research with Skull 5 of the Sima de los Huesos belonging to a Neanderthal, along with other studies of other fossils, suggests that 500,000 years ago they had a vocal apparatus like ours. If Neanderthals had the physical conditions did they speak?

BRAIN CAPACITY

Humans are the mammals with the largest brains relative to our bodies. The intelligence of a chimpanzee is compared to 4 years old child. If they can not speak for physical limitations, could they do it otherwise?

Brain pointing out Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas, responsible for language. Homo habilis and possessed. Photo of public domain taken from NIH

According to a study published in Nature , the FOXP2 gene appears to be responsible for our ability to control of precises movement that allows speech. People with inactive copies of this gene, have severe speech and language problems. The FOXP2 gene is different in only two amino acids between chimps and humans, and apparently is responsible that neither they nor the rest of vertebrates can talk. This difference, this mutation is believed to have appeared 500,000 years ago. Svante Pääbo and his team discovered that this gene was already like ours in Neanderthals. If this is true, added to what we have seen in the previous section, we can almost ensure that Neanderthals could speak.

TEACHING TO TALK TO OTHER APES

Since they can not talk, scientists have taught apes to communicate with humans by lexigrams (drawings respresentan words) and sign language. Washoe was the first non-human ape to learn the American Sign Language (ASL). It was a chimpanzee, learned about 350 words and taught his son some Loulis. Other chimpanzees were capable of it, but the most fascinating is the discovery of this communication behavior of wild chimpanzees signs (obviously, chimpanzees own signs, not the ASL). The bonobo Kanzhi communicated with lexigrams, and Koko has become a famous gorilla thanks to her mastery of ASL.

KOKO THE GORILLA

Koko (short for Hanabiko,  in Japanese, “Fireworks”) is a western lowland gorilla. Gorillas are the largest apes and hominids nowadays, with up to 180 Kg weight in males.

Koko in 2010. Photo by Ron Cohn, Koko.org.

 

After chimpanzees and bonobos, gorillas are the most genetically similar to humans (we share more than 98% DNA). There are two species of gorillas:

• Western Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) includes two subspecies, the western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and the Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli). It is critically endangered according to IUCN .
  
• Eastern Gorilla (Gorilla beringei): includes the mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) and the eastern lowland gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri). It is endangered according to IUCN .

Distribution of great apes. Map shared from Great Apes Survival Partnership

 

KOKO’S LEARNING

Koko was born in 1971 in the San Francisco Zoo, and currently lives in the Gorilla Foundation in Redwood City, California. Since she was 6 months old Dr. Francine (Penny) Patterson (then PhD student) and Dr. Ron Cohn taught her American Sign Language (ASL). Other gorillas that were attached to the project were Michael (in 1976) and Ndume (1991).

Penny teaching Koko (right) and Michael ASL. Photo taken from Koko.org

Since then, Koko has learned up to 1000 ASL signs and understands approximately 2,000 words in English. It is even capable of combining different signs to explain concepts if seh don’t know the word. Michael and Ndume also managed to communicate through signs: Ndume learned some from Koko, which could prove Koko’s case is not unique but gestural communication is intrinsic in gorillas.

In this video Penny asks what Koko would like to do with their spare time. She answers that she would like to have a baby and thanks Penny when she tells her that they are trying:

OTHER SKILLS OF KOKO

Koko, living in a humanized environment, performs acts by imitation, according to researchers, she has not been forced to do so. She look at books, movies, makes paintings, looks her in the mirror, take care of pets… even plays the flute. This is especially important because it is capable of puckering in the proper position and control breathing. It can also simulate cough, which requires control over the larynx. Contrary to what was thought, control over the airways and therefore on future capabilities of our ancestors speaking, could have appeared millions sooner than previously thought.

Koko video playing flutes and harmonica (Koko.org):

Another subject worthy of study is the artistic ability of Koko and Michael. If other apes have created tools and language, it is art what separates us from them and our ancestors? Since Koko can communicate with a common language to us and puts names to her creations, is this some symbolic capacity? The line between apes and other H. sapiens, and therefore also between H. sapiens and other Homo, is getting thinner.

Kokopainting a picture. Photo from Koko.org

 

PROJECT KOKO MILESTONES

Finally, we leave you with the most important milestones after 40 years of study with Koko:

• Gorillas can learn ASL (1,000 signs) ant do it faster during childhood, and know how to modulate these signs to give them different emphasis
• They understand spoken English (2000 words)
• Koko is not a unique case, as Michael and Ndume testify
• Inventive: they can expand language combining signs learned with other signs (eg, “bracelet finger” to express “ring”), or by adding own gestures .
• Emotions: they express a variety of emotions, from the simplest to the most complex. It is known Koko reaction after the death of one of its kittens, Robin Williams, or a sad scene in film.
• Hypothesis of empathy: the gorillas may have empathy, looking at how she treats persons or animals .
• Use of grammatical language
• Other ways to communicate: including creation of drawings, photographs, pointing to words, letters with phrases …
• Self-identity: Koko is defined in front of a mirror as “fine animal / person gorilla”. Watch the video:

REFERENCES

• Human development (2002). Delval, J. XXI Century Editors Spain
  
• Koko.org . The Gorilla Foundation
• Sobre els Orígens the llenguatge (UOC)
• Instituto Max Planck. Hace medio millón de años una mutación nos ayudó a hablar y aprender
• Los monos ya saben hablar
• La ampliación del espacio cognitivo en el eje filogenético
• Áreas Broca’s and Wernicke (EduCaixa)
• Los simios y sus increíbles capacidades
• Gorillas (Great Apes Survival Partnership)
• Cover image: frame of the documentary “Koko, A -1978 talking gorilla.” Photo taken from mubi .

Lucy in the ground with diamonds

Surely one of the responsibles that you’re reading this post was the climate change that took place about 6 million years ago. The lifting of the Rift Valley caused a cooling and drying of sub-Saharan Africa, which favored the extension of the savannah at the expense of forests and the evolution of the first hominans who already walked by two feet. The most famous of them is undoubtedly Lucy. We encourage you to meet Australopithecus afarensis and the anatomy associated with bipedalism.

¿WHO WAS LUCY?

Just over 40 years ago, Donald Johanson discovered a partial skeleton (AL-288-1) 3.2 million old in Hadar, Ethiopia. It was the oldest hominan discovered and the bones belonged to an unknown species. At night, while celebrating the discovery with his team, the Beatles song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds was playing in the cassette, and nicknamed the fossil remains. They belong to the species Australopithecus afarensis (Afar southern monkey).

Cast of Lucy in the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris. (Photo: unknown author, Wikimedia)

Currently A. afarensis is one of the best known early hominans, as it have been found remains of hundreds of individuals, males, females and young ones.

ANATOMY

The average height and weight of A. afarensis was 1.05 m and 29 kg for females and 1.51 m and 42 kg for males, significantly smaller compared to us. Brain volume was also small, 387-550 cubic cm (similar to a current chimpanzee). The arms and fingers were longer than ours, which allowed them to climb easily in the trees, and the legs, though shorter, had characteristics that allowed bipedalism (walking on two feet) completely. The forehead was narrow and jaws were located forward (prognathism), with a large space for jaw muscles. Their diet was mainly herbivorous.

Reconstruction of Lucy by Elisabeth Daynès, with Laetoli footprint trails, in CosmoCaixa. (Photo: Mireia Querol)

ANATOMICAL FEATURES OF BIPEDALISM

A. afarensis already had the necessary adaptations to walk like us, though perhaps is not the older bipedal hominan: Orrorin tugenensis (6.2 to 5.6 million years) is aspiring to be one of the first members of the human race who walked upright .

Comparison between the skeletons of a current human (Homo sapiens), an A. afarensis and a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). (Photo: H. sapiens unknown author, A. afarensis John C. Phillips, chimpanzee Udo M. Savalli).

• Foramen magnum: the spinal cord goes through an opening in the skull, the foramen magnum. In the chimpanzee is located in the back of the skull, while afarensis has it in the base, which allows a vertical backbone settle.
• Backbone: lumbar and cervical area of the human backbone are more curved, we have a column with a “S” shape. The center of gravity is in the midline of the foot and allows spinal flexion during walking, therefore when chimpanzees walk on two feet, stagger for balance because they have a straight spine.
• Rib cage: A. afarensis still has a rather conical chest to accommodate a larger digestive system due to herviborous diet and better shoulder mobility to climb. H. sapiens have it shaped like a barrel, which facilitates the swing arm for better balance while walking and allows a better torso bending.
• Pelvis: human pelvis is shorter and wider than other primates, to allow better mobility with the base of the backbone, but the birth canal is narrow.
• Feet: A. afarensis toe, like ours, is aligned with the rest of the fingers, the sole is arched and a wide bead allows the foot to propel with the fingers and absorb shock when walking.
• Femur: due to bipedalism the joint surface is wide and the femur is angled toward the center of gravity. In the chimpanzee femurs are shorter, less inclined and with lower joints.

LAETOLI FOOTPRINT TRAILS

Laetoli footprint trails, Tanzania. (Photo: Sciencephoto Library)

2.000 kms further south where Lucy was found, in Laetoli (Tanzania), Mary Leakey discovered in 1978 the oldest known biped trail (3.6 million years) of probably 4 hominans who walked through the open savannah, with traces of other extinct animals like the horse Hipparion, a bird, a baboon and a centipede. The tracks are laid down in the ashes of the volcano Sadiman and are attributed to A. afarensis. There are 69 footprints, some overlapping others intentionally, perhaps as a strategy to leave no trace. The big toe is parallel to the rest of the fingers and a deep footprint and the bead is well marked, which confirms a completely bipedal stride.

But why has it been so important bipedalism in the process of humanization, towards the emergence of Homo sapiens? We’ll find out in the next article on human evolution.

Rreconstruction of A. afarensis by John Gurche. (Photo: Chip Clark)

 

REFERENCES

• Roberts, Alice. 2002. Akal. Evolución: historia de la humanidad.
• Turbón, Daniel. 2006. Ariel. La evolución humana.
• Cela Conde, Camilo José; Ayala, Francisco J. 2001. Alianza Editorial. Senderos de la evolución humana.
• Lucy, el fósil que reescribió la historia de la evolución humana
• Australophitecus afarensis (Smithsonian)
• Cambio climático motivó la evolución humana

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