Tuesday, 9 April 2013

News Story - Primate calls give clues to human speech

So it has been found that the Gelada (Theropithecus gelada) call contains a 'wobble' which may be similar to that made my primitive humans. 

So lets have more information about the Gelada (Theropithecus gelada). There are two subspecies that have been described: T. g. gelada and T. g. obscurus. They are found in Ethiopia and restricted to the high grassland. They are widespread throughout their range, which means they are of least concern on the ICUN red list.

The 'wobble' is thought to sound something like a cross between a yodel and a baby's gurgle. This can be heard on the link (below) for the article on the bbc site. This may show us some link to how speech evolved in our ancestors. The complexitiy of the vocal chords isn't found in any primates bar humans. This 'wobble' along with "lip-smacking" that has been found in some primates could have allowed us to speak. 


The question that I find myself thinking is that do you think that if we hadn't evolved the ability to speak and communicate properly with each other. would we be where we are now?  Would we have evolved another way to communicate? A thought to ponder on. 

References:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22067192 (News Story)

http://www.cell.com/current-biology/retrieve/pii/S0960982213002091 (Actual paper)

http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/21744/0 (ICUN Red List on the Gelada Baboon)

Monday, 1 April 2013

Selby Abbey

On Sunday I was able to visit Selby in Yorkshire to go to see family and for the first time I went into Selby Abby. It has stood for nearly 1000 years!

The idea to build the Abby in Selby came from Benedict ( a monk from France) who had a vision of St. Germain where he was told to go and start a new monastery in England. He was told that the site would be marked the presence of three swans. His journey led him to the River Ouse at Selby, where there were three swans and ever since three swans have been the Abby arms.

It is a beautiful building and I would recommend anyone to go who is near the area. As this doesn't take long, you may want to visit York and explore the city which is such a lovely place to go. And I am sure if you enjoy history or beautiful architecture then you will love these places.

If you want to find out more about Selby Abby then visit this website:
www.selbyabby.org.uk