Search Results - "Townsend, Simon W."

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  1. 1

    Chimpanzee alarm call production meets key criteria for intentionality by Schel, Anne Marijke, Townsend, Simon W, Machanda, Zarin, Zuberbühler, Klaus, Slocombe, Katie E

    Published in PloS one (16-10-2013)
    “…Determining the intentionality of primate communication is critical to understanding the evolution of human language. Although intentional signalling has been…”
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  2. 2

    Meaningful call combinations and compositional processing in the southern pied babbler by Engesser, Sabrina, Ridley, Amanda R., Townsend, Simon W.

    “…Language’s expressive power is largely attributable to its compositionality: meaningful words are combined into larger/higher-order structures with derived…”
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  3. 3

    Vocal Learning in the Functionally Referential Food Grunts of Chimpanzees by Watson, Stuart K., Townsend, Simon W., Schel, Anne M., Wilke, Claudia, Wallace, Emma K., Cheng, Leveda, West, Victoria, Slocombe, Katie E.

    Published in Current biology (16-02-2015)
    “…One standout feature of human language is our ability to reference external objects and events with socially learned symbols, or words. Exploring the…”
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  4. 4

    Multimodal communication and language origins: integrating gestures and vocalizations by Fröhlich, Marlen, Sievers, Christine, Townsend, Simon W., Gruber, Thibaud, Schaik, Carel P.

    “…ABSTRACT The presence of divergent and independent research traditions in the gestural and vocal domains of primate communication has resulted in major…”
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  5. 5

    Compositionality in animals and humans by Townsend, Simon W, Engesser, Sabrina, Stoll, Sabine, Zuberbühler, Klaus, Bickel, Balthasar

    Published in PLoS biology (15-08-2018)
    “…A key step in understanding the evolution of human language involves unravelling the origins of language's syntactic structure. One approach seeks to reduce…”
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  6. 6

    Functionally Referential Communication in Mammals: The Past, Present and the Future by Townsend, Simon W., Manser, Marta B.

    Published in Ethology (01-01-2013)
    “…Whether animal vocalizations have the potential to communicate information regarding ongoing external events or objects has received considerable attention…”
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  7. 7

    Language evolution: syntax before phonology? by Collier, Katie, Bickel, Balthasar, van Schaik, Carel P., Manser, Marta B., Townsend, Simon W.

    “…Phonology and syntax represent two layers of sound combination central to language's expressive power. Comparative animal studies represent one approach to…”
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  8. 8

    Chimpanzee food calls are directed at specific individuals by Schel, Anne Marijke, Machanda, Zarin, Townsend, Simon W., Zuberbühler, Klaus, Slocombe, Katie E.

    Published in Animal behaviour (01-11-2013)
    “…If primates were capable of vocalizing to inform a receiver about an external entity, it would represent an important element of continuity with human…”
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  9. 9

    The function and evolution of child-directed communication by Schick, Johanna, Fryns, Caroline, Wegdell, Franziska, Laporte, Marion, Zuberbühler, Klaus, van Schaik, Carel P, Townsend, Simon W, Stoll, Sabine

    Published in PLoS biology (06-05-2022)
    “…Humans communicate with small children in unusual and highly conspicuous ways (child-directed communication (CDC)), which enhance social bonding and facilitate…”
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  10. 10

    Call combinations and compositional processing in wild chimpanzees by Leroux, Maël, Schel, Anne M., Wilke, Claudia, Chandia, Bosco, Zuberbühler, Klaus, Slocombe, Katie E., Townsend, Simon W.

    Published in Nature communications (04-05-2023)
    “…Through syntax, i.e., the combination of words into larger phrases, language can express a limitless number of messages. Data in great apes, our closest-living…”
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  11. 11

    Wolf Howling Is Mediated by Relationship Quality Rather Than Underlying Emotional Stress by Mazzini, Francesco, Townsend, Simon W., Virányi, Zsófia, Range, Friederike

    Published in Current biology (09-09-2013)
    “…While considerable research has addressed the function of animal vocalizations, the proximate mechanisms driving call production remain surprisingly unclear…”
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  12. 12

    Communication: Animal Steps on the Road to Syntax? by Russell, Andrew F., Townsend, Simon W.

    Published in Current biology (07-08-2017)
    “…From tool use to teaching, proto-forms of ‘human traits’ are being discovered in animals. But what of language? New evidence suggests that a garden bird has…”
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  13. 13

    An exploration of Menzerath's law in wild mountain gorilla vocal sequences by Watson, Stuart K, Heesen, Raphaela, Hedwig, Daniela, Robbins, Martha M, Townsend, Simon W

    Published in Biology letters (2005) (01-10-2020)
    “…Menzerath's law, traditionally framed as a negative relationship between the size of a structure and its constituent parts (e.g. sentences with more clauses…”
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  14. 14

    Experimental Evidence for Phonemic Contrasts in a Nonhuman Vocal System by Engesser, Sabrina, Crane, Jodie M S, Savage, James L, Russell, Andrew F, Townsend, Simon W

    Published in PLoS biology (01-06-2015)
    “…The ability to generate new meaning by rearranging combinations of meaningless sounds is a fundamental component of language. Although animal vocalizations…”
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  15. 15

    The function of nonlinear phenomena in meerkat alarm calls by Townsend, Simon W., Manser, Marta B.

    Published in Biology letters (2005) (23-02-2011)
    “…Nonlinear vocal phenomena are a ubiquitous feature of human and non-human animal vocalizations. Although we understand how these complex acoustic intrusions…”
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  16. 16

    Beyond bigrams: call sequencing in the common marmoset ( Callithrix jacchus ) vocal system by Bosshard, Alexandra B., Burkart, Judith M., Merlo, Paola, Cathcart, Chundra, Townsend, Simon W., Bickel, Balthasar

    Published in Royal Society open science (01-11-2024)
    “…Over the last two decades, an emerging body of research has demonstrated that non-human animals exhibit the ability to combine context-specific calls into…”
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  17. 17

    Female chimpanzees use copulation calls flexibly to prevent social competition by Townsend, Simon W, Deschner, Tobias, Zuberbühler, Klaus

    Published in PloS one (18-06-2008)
    “…The adaptive function of copulation calls in female primates has been debated for years. One influential idea is that copulation calls are a sexually selected…”
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  18. 18

    A simple test of vocal individual recognition in wild meerkats by Townsend, Simon W., Allen, Colin, Manser, Marta B.

    Published in Biology letters (2005) (23-04-2012)
    “…Individual recognition is thought to be a crucial ability facilitating the evolution of animal societies. Given its central importance, much research has…”
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  19. 19

    All clear? Meerkats attend to contextual information in close calls to coordinate vigilance by Townsend, Simon W., Zöttl, Markus, Manser, Marta B.

    Published in Behavioral ecology and sociobiology (01-10-2011)
    “…Socio-demographic factors, such as group size and their effect on predation vulnerability, have, in addition to intrinsic factors, dominated as explanations…”
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  20. 20

    Why did the meerkat cross the road? Flexible adaptation of phylogenetically-old behavioural strategies to modern-day threats by Perony, Nicolas, Townsend, Simon W

    Published in PloS one (18-02-2013)
    “…Risk-sensitive adaptive spatial organisation during group movement has been shown to efficiently minimise the risks associated with external ecological…”
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