14 DAY TRIAL // Tilda is a female orangutan currently living in captivity at the Cologne Zoo in Germany. The ape was born in the wild in a remote corner of Borneo about 50 years ago but was captured in 1967 and got to live with a Swiss endocrinologist Hugo Steiner for quite a while.
This is yet to be confirmed, but researchers believe that, before finally settling down at Cologne Zoo, the primate was held captive by an entertainer. Hence the fact that it now displays behaviors such as clapping its hand, waving at people or whistling.
Still, these behaviors are not the strangest thing about Tilda. What's amazing is that, as detailed in a new paper in the journal PLOS ONE, this ape can produce sounds that mimic human speech. Even more amazing, the primate produces these sounds on its own accord.
Specifically, Tilda's caretakers say that the primate lets out human-like vocalizations, described as two distinct calls at a rhythm similar to that of human speech and documented in the video below, whenever it feels hungry and wants to make sure that it gets a bite to eat.
Researchers say that what is remarkable about the calls, dubbed clicks and the faux-speech, is the fact that, to produce them, the orangutan must use its lips and tongue, which is exactly how we humans speak. Besides, the calls resemble vowels and consonants.
Specialists hope that, by studying Tilda, they will be able to gain a better understanding of the evolution of human speech. “This research highlights that studying orangutan calls is very relevant to our understanding of the evolution of the production of human speech,” said researcher Serge Wich with the Liverpool John Moores University.
