Humans are the only species known to use fully symbolic language: a system capable of expressing abstract ideas, imaginary worlds and endless combinations of meaning. But how did we get there? The ...

Cognitive and computer scientists at the University of Toronto, Universitat Pompeu Fabra and the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies have found child language development and the ...

In evolutionary theory, natural selection 1 describes why some things exist and others do not 2. Darwin’s theory of evolution and its modern synthesis point out how selection among variants in the ...

The human environment is a very social one. Family, friends, colleagues, strangers – they all provide a continuous stream of information that we need to track and make sense of. Who is dating whom?

Islands have played a prominent role in evolutionary and ecological theory, centring the theoretical framework for understanding biodiversity in terms of isolation and area and providing ‘laboratories ...

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Here is another idea about how language arose. As pitch-based communication is widespread among non-human animals, could language have developed from similar-pitched Tarzan-like calls specific to a ...

In the article "To Effectively Discuss Evolution, First Define 'Theory'" in the May 12 issue of The Scientist (R. Lewis, page 13), it was stated that the term "theory of evolution" should be replaced ...