- after finding 1,033 distinct sounds apes make to communicate

A three year hunt for patterns hidden in the roars, sighs, and other noises made by Indonesia's orangutans has discovered 'a full spectrum' of complex vocalizations.

The breakthrough comes hot on the heels of other recent discoveries further revealing the depth of the great ape's intelligence — including one orangutan's practice of healing its own injuries with a self-prepared medicinal herb.

The research team reinforced their analysis by testing artificial intelligence (AI) detection methods against the painstaking work of biologists and bioacoustics scientists, employing only their trained ears, intellects and measurement tools.

The Cornell University-led team pooled together a dataset of 117 recorded 'long calls' made by 13 males of one particular species, the Bornean orangutan, employing 46 acoustic measurements on 1,033 distinct pulses detected within those calls.

'These features would seem to greatly boost the potential complexity of this signal,' they wrote, suggesting humanity might soon know what the great apes are saying.

Poster Comment:

Prairie dogs in the US have a 19 word language. They have 2 dialects of that language.