Monkeys also have dialects

Monkeys also have their own voice depending on where they live. This is the first study to confirm that, done by Japanese scientists.

" The difference in monkey speech is similar to the dialect of humans ," said Nobuo Masataka, professor of customary studies at Kyoto University Primate Research Institute.

The research team analyzed the voice quality of two groups of Japanese monkeys, Macaca fuscata yakui, between 1990 and 2000.

A group of 23 monkeys living on the island of southern Yakushima, another group of 30 descendants of the same group moved from the island to Ohira Mountain, central Japan, since 1956.

The results showed that the group living in the island had a voice higher than 110 hertz compared to the group at Mount Ohira.

The monkeys on Yakushima island have a more crooked cry because the tall trees on the island prevent sound. "On the other hand, monkeys in Mount Ohira are not troubled by the low trees there. Each group had to adjust their cries to suit the environment," Masataka said.

This suggests that the difference in monkey calls is not from genes. Results can help find the origin of human language.

MT