Bridging the gap between human and animal communication

A recent paper by Professor Ray Wilkinson from HCS and colleagues from the University York and Max Planck Institutes in Germany and the Netherlands has received wide coverage in the media.

Two elephants cuddling with trunks.

The paper, on how taking turns to communicate is widespread throughout the animal kingdom and may play an important role in the evolution of language in humans, was reported on in Newsweek, The Independent, The Daily Mail, Forbes, and The Express among others.

One of the authors, Sonja Vernes, was also interviewed on the Today programme on Radio 4. The paper was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Reference: Pika, S., Wilkinson, R., Kendrick, K.H. & Vernes, S.C. (2018) Taking turns: Bridging the gap between human and animal communication. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 285: 20180598

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