Will any animal, other than humans, be able to speak like us after thousands of years of evolution?

Question

Human beings did not speak the way we do now, it took years of evolution to achieve this without having the example of another animal. Will any other animal be able to achieve the same thing through evolution since a lot of them listen constantly to us talking?

Answer 1

umm this is a tricky one.

It depends on a lot of factors. firstly whether speaking like humans would help in the survival of an animal in the present or future.

Gause's law comes to mind. No two species (or variety ) can occupy the same niche. That is ,it is technicaly impossible for another animal to evolve to do the same functions as humans , as long as humans exist (as either one of the species will get killed off in the competion for the same things).

humans getting wiped out because of the rise of another species is impossible, if the 2 species are in contact from the beginning of evolution. The evolution of the other species in the direction of humans will be supressed as slight changes which brings the creature into competion with humans is disadvantages for it's survival

If however, the species were to evolve isolated from us, and to come only in contact when it had developed superior traits for competing with humans- then yes humans will be wiped out.



The other possibility is that humans get wiped out due to a sudden change in the enviroment and after the enviroment has returned to normal, another animal starts to evolve to be human like.



re: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competitive_exclusion_principle

Answer 2

There is currently not 1 animal that can speak the way we do now, so no. Here is how evolution works. When members of a species are more fit to their environment than others, they live more than the ones who are not fit to their environments. In evolution, traits don't just magically appear in animals; they just become more plentiful in the species if that trait works for the environment.

There is currently not 1 animal that can speak like we do, making it impossible for that animal to live on and breed so it can produce offspring that can also talk as we do. It can't happen.

Answer 3

It is unlikely they would 'speak like us'. They would probably speak like 'them'. So, birds might become better talkers of 'birdese' and dolphins of whatever they 'speak' now.

To evolve the trait of 'talking like a human' would require so many pressures we felt in the past and so many similar developments to those pressures that it is extremely unlikely to occur again.

Language isn't just a simple genetic switch. At least not human language. There is a whole brain that tells us both the what to say and the why to say it. And 'human' is a language that is mostly about human things, about how we see and experience the world and about how we feel.

You only have to look at computer language to see how even this machine that we designed has a very different language because the 'speaker' is a different sort of being. When one computer 'talks' to another, it almost never says, "How's your day going, what with the weather being so crappy?"

Answer 4

It could happen, but it would take many millions of years, no thousands. I think birds, like crows, would be likely candidates. The crows that communicate the best have the most surviving chicks, so they slowly evolve towards more vocalizations. Pretty soon (a few million years) they'll be able to tell each other where some spilled McDonalds fries have been left in a parking lot.

Answer 5

WHAT SUPERIORITY COMPLEX!!!! Why do you assume that the mode of communication we humans adopt is superior?? Our voice can't even travel more than a KM, we cant talk inside water, we can't talk without being overheard, or disturbing others, can't communicate it noisy surroundings. Look at the animal world deeply and you'll find that they hardly need this trait!! Some have far Superior communicating technology than us, for example dolphin's which can communicate over very vast distances inside water. There are hundreds of other examples. Its us Humans trying to make technical gadgets to imitate there technology (As physically god has not gifted us that) and not the other way round.

Answer 6

No, they will speak like themselves.... there is no possible way to exactly re-create the evolutionary pressures that shaped our language. Since most animals already have complex communication methods, they will evole along those lines divergent from the processes that led to our unique language, but they will in all likelihood continue to evolve more unique complex languages of their own.. The real question is, if we are so smart why cant we understand their language and speak more like them?? Animals can already be taught to understand our language, now we need to be taught how to understand theirs.

Answer 7

Not through evolution, but in the Bible in the Book of Revelation it clearly states that all animals, birds, fowl and fish will open their mouth and praise God.

Rev. 5:13
And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, HEARD I SAYING (or I heard saying)
Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

God said they'll praise Him and not just one, it sounds like all creatures. If God can create them, He can definitely give them voice boxes so they can praise Him.

I believe in a Creator - not evolution.

Answer 8

They sure will, just as we did. Some forms of life adapt faster than others. A lot of animals do a good job of communicating, some scientists believe that they are adapting at a very quick rate, depending on how you look at time.

Answer 9

One reason no one seems to have mentioned so far is the trade-off between strength and dexterity. Sure a 90 pound female chimp has more arm strength than Arnold Schwartzenegger in his prime, but try to get the chimp to throw a spear, or fashion complicated tools.

Answer 10

Some Chimpanzees and Gorillas have already been taught to speak in complex sentences using sign language.

If their vocal chords have the complexity to do so and their environment requires it I see no reason why they can't.

Plus, who is to say that they already do not have a spoken language, just one we have not deciphered yet?