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Bonnie the ape holds a tune


http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2065907.ece

[ video ]


By VINCE SOODIN


Published: 23 Dec 2008


The 140lb ape stunned her keepers when she picked up the self-taught trick.


Now boffins believe she may hold crucial clues as to how the human language
evolved.


It is thought that 30-year-old Bonnie – who lives in the National Zoo, in
Washington DC, US – taught herself how to whistle after hearing her keepers.


Bonnie also taught her orangutan pal Indah how to whistle – who created her
own tunes, rather than just copying what she heard.


Animal experts say she is the first indication that the primates can
independently pick up and make their own sounds.


And a new study suggests the sounds she makes could explain how early humans
formed their own language.


Animal keeper and study co-author Erin Stromberg said: "The assumption is
that someone was whistling and she probably picked it up from them."


The zoo's curator Lisa Stevens said: "It's something she spontaneously
developed. It wasn't a trick."


Or maybe Bonnie just likes to ape her keepers' behaviour.