Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id FAA01619 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Fri, 19 Jan 2001 05:01:42 GMT Message-ID: <022e01c081d3$555cc6c0$d90cfea9@waluk> From: "Gerry Reinhart-Waller" <waluk@best.com> To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> References: <20010119035512.AAA4496@camailp.harvard.edu@[204.96.32.110]> <00de01c081cf$e11a8980$5eaefea9@cable.rcn.com> Subject: Re: Now They're Singing a Different Song Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2001 20:50:20 -0800 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2615.200 X-Mimeole: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2615.200 Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Songbirds could be the originator of human language. But so could
tool-knapping where the sounds of the knap became our phonemes. Don't know.
But I'm certain there are other theories as well. It's a vey complicated
subject area. The final question for consideration is "why did Homo sapiens
acquire the ability to speak (and write) when no other species did?" Very
complicated.
Gerry Reinhart-Waller
----- Original Message -----
From: Aaron Agassi <agassi@erols.com>
To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2001 8:25 PM
Subject: Re: Now They're Singing a Different Song
> Yes, but does this help to explain any Memetic equivalent?
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Wade T.Smith" <wade_smith@harvard.edu>
> To: "Memetics Discussion List" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
> Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2001 10:56 PM
> Subject: Fwd: Now They're Singing a Different Song
>
>
> >
> > ---------------- Begin Forwarded Message ----------------
> >
> > >From the BBC at:
> >
> > <http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1123000/1123973.stm>
> >
> > Songbird shows how evolution works
> >
> > By BBC News Online science editor Dr David Whitehouse
> >
> > Scientists may be witnessing one of the fundamental forces of evolution:
> > the
> > divergence of one species into two.
> >
> > One of the largest mysteries remaining in evolutionary biology is
exactly
> > how one species can gradually diverge into two
> >
> > Darren Irwin, UCSD
> >
> > It is the evidence that the originator of the theory of evolution,
Charles
> > Darwin, wanted to see but was never able to find.
> >
> > The new data comes from the songs of the greenish warbler, a bird that
> > lives
> > in the foothills of the Himalayas. Researchers have noticed that its
song
> > changes gradually throughout its territory.
> >
> > At the extreme ranges of its habitat, the greenish warbler will sing
very
> > different songs. This means that although the birds belong to the same
> > species, they will not mate. And eventually, they will become two
separate
> > species
> >
> > One becomes two
> >
> > Biologists are saying that this shows how one species can become two, a
> > process known as speciation.
> >
> > "One of the largest mysteries remaining in evolutionary biology is
exactly
> > how one species can gradually diverge into two," says Darren Irwin of
the
> > University of California, San Diego, US.
> >
> > The Himalayan warblers are an example of a rare condition known as a
"ring
> > species".
> >
> > "Ring species are unique because they present all levels of variation,
> > from
> > small differences between neighbouring populations to species-level
> > differences in a single group of organisms," says Irwin.
> >
> > Defending territories
> >
> > The greenish warbler (Phylloscopus trochiloides) lives in a ring-shaped
> > region around the Himalayas with gradually changing behavioural and
> > genetic
> > characteristics. The ring is broken in one place, in central Siberia,
> > where
> > two forms of the songbird exist.
> >
> > "This creates a paradox in which two co-existing forms of the songbird
can
> > be considered as two species and as a single species at the same time,"
> > remarks Irwin.
> >
> > "Ring species are valuable because they can show all of the intermediate
> > steps that occur during the divergence of one species into two. In the
> > greenish warbler, as in most songbirds, males sing to attract mates and
to
> > defend territories.
> >
> > "The greenish warblers living in the Himalayas sing songs that are
simple,
> > short and repetitive. As you go north along the western side of Tibet,
> > moving through central Asia, the songs become longer and more complex,"
> > says
> > Irwin.
> >
> > Recorded songs
> >
> > Irwin and his co-researchers publish their study of the bird in the
> > journal
> > Nature.
> >
> > In their paper, they describe how when recordings of songs were played
to
> > warblers which sang differently, the birds did not recognise them - and
so
> > would not breed.
> >
> > "The greenish warbler is the first case in which we can see all the
steps
> > that occurred in the behavioural divergence of two species from their
> > common
> > ancestor," says Irwin.
> >
> > "These results demonstrate how small evolutionary changes can lead to
> > differences that cause reproductive isolation between species, just as
> > Darwin envisioned."
> >
> >
> > ----------------- End Forwarded Message -----------------
> >
>
>
>
> ===============================================================
> This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
> Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
> For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing)
> see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit
>
>
===============================================================
This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing)
see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jan 19 2001 - 05:03:22 GMT