Editing Animal language (section)

==Primates==
Humans are able to distinguish real words from fake words based on the phonological order of the word itself. In a 2013 study, [[baboon]]s were shown to have this skill as well. The discovery has led researchers to believe that reading is not as advanced a skill as previously believed, but instead based on the ability to recognize and distinguish letters from one another. The experimental setup consisted of six young adult baboons, and results were measured by allowing the animals to use a touch screen and select whether or not the displayed word was a real word, or a non-word such as "dran" or "telk". The study lasted for six weeks, with approximately 50,000 tests completed in that time. The researchers minimized common [[bigram]]s, or combinations of two letters, in non-words, and maximized them in real words. Further studies will attempt to teach baboons how to use an artificial alphabet.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Haghighat|first=Leila|title=Baboons Can Learn to Recognize Words|url=http://www.nature.com/news/baboons-can-learn-to-recognize-words-1.10432|journal=Nature News|access-date=15 April 2013|doi=10.1038/nature.2012.10432|year=2012|s2cid=178872255|doi-access=free}}</ref>

In a 2016 study, a team of biologists from several universities concluded that [[macaque]]s possess [[vocal tract]]s physically capable of speech, "but lack a speech-ready brain to control it".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fitch |first1=W. T. |last2=de Boer |first2=B. |last3=Mathur |first3=N.|last4=Ghazanfar|first4=A. A. |date=December 2016 |title=Monkey vocal tracts are speech-ready |journal=[[Science Advances]] |volume=2|number=12|doi=10.1126/sciadv.1600723 |pmid=27957536 |pmc=5148209 |pages=e1600723|bibcode=2016SciA....2E0723F }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/why-cant-monkeys-talk-their-anatomy-is-speech-ready-but-their-brains-arent-wired-for-it-research-suggests|title=Why can't monkeys talk? Their anatomy is 'speech-ready' but their brains aren't wired for it: neuroscientist|work=[[National Post]]|access-date=10 December 2016}}</ref>