Gibbons Can Ape Soprano Singers Pitch

Gibbons, the small apes that are social animals and recognized for being strongly territorial use sharp vocal sounds to protect their boundaries. This outstanding quality makes them the soprano singers of the jungle.

The study that is being carried out in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology states how the gibbons singing under the influence of helium gas display a physiological similarity to human voices. They mimic the humans adopting the same vocal technique.

"The complexity of human speech is unique among primates as it requires varied soft sounds made by the rapid movements of vocal tracts," said Dr Nishimura. "Our speech was thought to have evolved through specific modifications in our vocal anatomy. However, we've shown how the gibbons' distinctive song uses the same vocal mechanics as soprano singers, revealing a fundamental similarity with humans."

The research that was conducted by Dr Takeshi Nishimura from the Primate Research Institute at Kyoto University, Japan recorded nearly 20 calls made by gibbons at the Fukuchiyama City Zoo in the northern Kyoto, followed

The gibbons use these sharp vocals to communicate with their neighboring pair, strangers and potential mates.

This melody is audible over two miles away.

In order to gain more insights the researchers conducted an acoustic investigation on non human primates using helium gas. This gas increases sound velocity and resonance frequencies.

"The lowest frequency of harmonics is amplified in a gibbon's song when performed in normal air," said Nishimura. "However, in a helium-enriched atmosphere the tuning of the vocal cord vibration and the resonance of the vocal tract are altered as the gas causes an upward shift of the resonance frequencies."

Prior to this a study was done by the researchers from the German Primate Cnetre in Goettingen who discovered a conclusive correlation between song structure of gibbons, their genetics and geography.

This finding supports the theory that gibbons mimic human in sound technique and there exists independence between the origin of the sound and the vocal tools used to manipulate it.

Like humans the acoustic sound originates from larynx and is controlled by filter that determines the shape of the supralaryngeal vocal tract. This is termed as 'source-filter' process of speed production.

Science Daily reports that "this discovery suggests the development of complex vocal abilities in humans was not due to unique evolutionary modifications. Instead it shows that humans share the biological fundamentals of vocalization with other primates, but in speech have simply acquired another of its most sophisticated forms."

"This is the first evidence that gibbons always sing using soprano techniques, a difficult vocalization ability for humans which is only mastered by professional opera singers," concluded Nishimura. "This gives us a new appreciation of the evolution of speech in gibbons while revealing that the physiological foundation in human speech is not so unique."