Nature 459, 28 May 2009
Editor's Summary
Cultural genetic baggage
We tend to think of culture — in humans and in other animals — as
something that is passed on through social learning. But the
species-typical nature of some aspects of cultural diversity, and
variations between individuals of a particular species, point to
possible genetic origins. Fehér et al. explored this latter point by
analysing the establishment of socially learned birdsong in an island
colony of naive zebra finches. Although the original founding members
of the colony were never exposed to tutored birdsong during
development, and exhibited a song that differed markedly from
wild-type, in as few as three or four generations, the tutored song
approached that of the wild-type. These findings suggest that
species-specific song culture can develop de novo, and echo the well
known instance of de novo evolution of Nicaraguan sign language,
spontaneously developed by deaf children in Managua, showing
grammatical similarities to spoken human languages.
Authors: Making the paper: Olga Fehér
Songbirds' melodies have roots in both genes and environment.
doi:10.1038/7246481a
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v459/n7246/full/7246481a.html
News and Views: Animal behaviour: Birdsong normalized by culture
Both birdsong and human language are learned, requiring complex social
input. New findings show, however, that bird populations 'seeded' with
aberrant song input transform it to normal song in a few generations.
W. Tecumseh Fitch
doi:10.1038/459519a
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v459/n7246/full/459519a.html
Letter: De novo establishment of wild-type song culture in the zebra finch
Olga Fehér, Haibin Wang, Sigal Saar, Partha P. Mitra & Ofer Tchernichovski
doi:10.1038/nature07994
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v459/n7246/full/nature07994.html
Enjoy!
Xiao
XIAO, Jianqiang, Ph.D.
Research Associate
Psychology Department
Rutgers University
152 Frelinghuysen Road
Piscataway, NJ 08854
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