Bengalese finch vs white-backed munia, and the evolution of human language - PART I

Aug 08, 2015

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Bengalese finch vs white-backed munia, and the evolution of human language - PART IHello all!
I've put together this cool panel that brings more information on the differences between the Bengalese finch and the white-backed munia. 
This is the first of a series of four!
We are going to dive deep into the parallels between birdsong (specially the Bengalese finch and white-backed munia songs) and human language, the main hypotheses for the evolution of the human language, and the methods we are going to use to study how the Bengalese finch song evolved.

Tyler, @sciencemug, and 2 others like this.

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Christina TranBacker

Hi Madza! I really loved this infographic. I had a question though -- It seems counterintuitive to me that simple songs help munias sound more distinct! Why is that? Wouldn't a more complex song help identify a species more specifically?

Aug 24, 20150

About This Project

Birdsong and the Evolution of Human Language

UC Berkeley

We are now closer than ever to solving the mystery of human language evolution - and birdsong might be the key. As it turns out, songbirds have specialized birdsong brain circuits that show similar patterns of gene activation as the brain circuits that mediate human speech. In our research, we propose to study gene activation in the brains of a songbird species that may offer insights into how our species evolved this complex vocal behavior.