Bonobos!
Renowned bonobo chimpanzee expert Sue Savage-Rumbaugh gives a talk at TED.
Her contentions about the unimportance of genes seem to me ridiculous and intellectually irresponsible, and the claim that bonobos use language should have been qualified with the caveat that it's not clear that they use grammar. Their comprehension is impressive, but when it comes to grammar, I don't think it's been established that they can distinguish between "man bites dog" and "dog bites man."
Still, there is some great video here. You haven't seen anything until you've seen an ape drive a golf cart, blow a harmonica, and play Pac-Man.
BTW, Savage-Rumbaugh's book "Kanzi: The Ape at the Brink of the Human Mind" is awesome.
Her contentions about the unimportance of genes seem to me ridiculous and intellectually irresponsible, and the claim that bonobos use language should have been qualified with the caveat that it's not clear that they use grammar. Their comprehension is impressive, but when it comes to grammar, I don't think it's been established that they can distinguish between "man bites dog" and "dog bites man."
Still, there is some great video here. You haven't seen anything until you've seen an ape drive a golf cart, blow a harmonica, and play Pac-Man.
BTW, Savage-Rumbaugh's book "Kanzi: The Ape at the Brink of the Human Mind" is awesome.