Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Sixty years ago, scientists embarked on an experiment to teach American Sign Language to chimpanzees—and ultimately prove humans ...

Two new studies hint at the evolutionary roots of human language. The studies found that chimps use rhythmic structures and complex call combinations to communicate. This next story could not be ...

New research suggests wild chimpanzees have developed a far more nuanced communication system than previously realized, using several mechanisms that combine their vocalizations to create new meaning.

Researchers have found two important building blocks of human speech in wild chimpanzees, one of our closest relatives. A pair of studies finds that chimp communication includes both rhythmic ...

The study of rhythmic structures, which appears in the journal Current Biology, analyzed the drumming patterns of chimps from the rainforests in East and West Africa. The trees in those rainforests ...

Humans are known to invent private hand gestures. Chimps in the wild do, too, a new study suggests. By Brandon Keim Parents and their children, or people who know each other well, often share some ...

WASHINGTON - Scientists exploring the evolutionary origin of language have detected a vocal communication system among wild ...

This next story could not be introduced by a chimpanzee, unfortunately, but chimps do possess some of the building blocks of spoken language. NPR's Jon Hamilton reports on two new studies that hint at ...