• Question: Why cant animals talk?

    Asked by pineapple2000 to Mike, Pip, Tianfu, Tim, Tom on 27 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Philippa Bird

      Philippa Bird answered on 27 Jun 2012:

      They can talk to each other, just not us. They clearly haven’t needed to talk like us so they have not evolved to have the right voice boxes or brain processes for it.

    • Photo: Tom Lister

      Tom Lister answered on 27 Jun 2012:

      Humans have developed a fantastic ability to talk with very complex language. This is closely related to the way we developed the ability to create and use tools.

      Other animals can also have very complex ways of communicating, such as the giant squid dancing and producing a complex array of colour changes, but I’m not sure anything has kept up with us.

    • Photo: Tim Stephens

      Tim Stephens answered on 27 Jun 2012:

      They perhaps don’t use spoken language, but they can communicate with one another. There are all sorts of examples, from bees telling each other where to find nectar to wolves letting each other know where they and their prey are.

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