Science AMA Series: "I’m Adriano Lameira, post-doc research fellow at the Durham University, UK. On the 8th of August, I will be here to chat about our recent study with Rocky, who has broken through the glass ceiling of the traditional theory of speech evolution. AMA!

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Hi reddit,

I’m a post-doc research fellow at the Durham University, UK. Since my graduate work, some 12 ya, I have been following orang-utans in the rain forests of Sumatra and Borneo and across zoological gardens in the West, recording and cataloguing their vocal repertoire. I am interested in great ape vocal behaviour as a window back in time, some 10mya, to our last common ancestor with great apes and into their communication system. On the 8th of August, I will be here to chat about our recent study with Rocky (http://ift.tt/2ae5Jyu and https://redd.it/4utz1y), a male orangutan adolescent at the Indianapolis Zoo, Indiana, US, who has broken through the glass ceiling of the traditional theory of speech evolution. AMA!

Imagine that we were passed down a piece of technology that changed the impact of our species on the face of the planet. (Sure, use “Independence Day” story line as an example!) The wisest line of action would probably be to try to scrutinise and understand this piece of technology in as much detail as possible (yes, just like in the movie!). Probably, the hottest question would be on the origins of such innovation and how it was pieced together. You would take it apart and rebuilt it again. Science fiction aside, spoken language is such an innovation! Yet, we take it for granted, oblivious that it underlines all our relationships and societal structures. Even Science has struggled with the origin of speech and a quasi-mythical aura persists in many lines of thought. Understanding throughly great ape communication systems provides us a framework to reconstruct the first stages of speech evolution. By studying and protecting our closest living relatives in their natural environment and in enriching zoo facilities, I envisage that we will be able to reconstruct and theoretically piece back together this unparalleled innovation that defines our species!

I will be back at 9 am ET to start answering your questions, ask me anything!

">Science AMA Series: "I’m Adriano Lameira, post-doc research fellow at the Durham University, UK. On the 8th of August, I will be here to chat about our recent study with Rocky, who has broken through the glass ceiling of the traditional theory of speech evolution. AMA!