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Washoe the Talking Chimp Dead at 42
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Washoe the Talking Chimp Dead at 42
Washington - Scientists have announced the death of the first animal to break the language barrier, a female chimpanzee called Washoe who could communicate 250 words in human sign language.
Washoe was not only the first animal to learn a human language, she also passed on what she had learnt to her adopted son before dying on Tuesday at the ripe old age - for a chimp - of 42.
Her death was announced by scientists at the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute at Central Washington University, where she had lived in a research centre.
"Her name sign is formed with the fingers of a 'W' hand flicking the ear on the same side," read her biography on the Friends of Washoe website.
"Washoe is the first non-human animal to acquire a human language and her adopted son Loulis is the first to acquire a human language from another chimpanzee," it said.
Washoe, born in Africa in 1965, was the main subject of the 1997 book Next of Kin: What Chimpanzees Have Taught Me About Who We Are, written by the institute co-director Roger Fouts.
Starting in the late 1960s, primatologists Allen and Beatrice Gardner and a team of graduate students worked to teach the chimpanzee American Sign Language at their research center at the University of Reno, Nevada.
Washoe later moved to a univeristy in Oklahoma before being transferred to the research centre at Central Washington University. - Sapa-AFP
IOL: The chimpanzee that taught humans
She was a female of few words but those words meant a great deal.
(Last edited by abe; Nov 1, 2007 at 03:52 PM.
)
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America should know the political orientation of government officials who might be in a position to adversely influence the future of this country. http://tinyurl.com/4vucu5
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__________________________________________________
Play Food Fight! available free on the App Store!
Or how about a really weird (or stupid) game: Nesen Probe, it's also free.
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Clinically Insane
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Speech is a dangerous thing. I knew it. 
-t
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Professional Poster
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Originally Posted by design219 
Ha! I outlived her! YES!
Ex-wife?
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Addicted to MacNN
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Originally Posted by Dakarʒ
Ex-wife?
Their relationship hit a rocky point when she learned how to sign "I have a headache."
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"Specific knowledge on a topic usually demonstrates in-depth knowledge."
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Professional Poster
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She was a single mother and passed along the gift of speech to her only (adopted) son, Loulis.
Only time will tell us what the ramifications might be of this.
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America should know the political orientation of government officials who might be in a position to adversely influence the future of this country. http://tinyurl.com/4vucu5
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Professional Poster
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Originally Posted by abe
She was a single mother and passed along the gift of speech to her only (adopted) son, Loulis.
Only time will tell us what the ramifications might be of this.
Yeah, yeah, but for now, more jokes!
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__________________________________________________
Play Food Fight! available free on the App Store!
Or how about a really weird (or stupid) game: Nesen Probe, it's also free.
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Professional Poster
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Originally Posted by design219
Yeah, yeah, but for now, more jokes!
Well, one avenue for humor might be the "single mom = gay son" angle.
Another might be the "MILF" angle.
But those are both too risque for here.
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America should know the political orientation of government officials who might be in a position to adversely influence the future of this country. http://tinyurl.com/4vucu5
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Addicted to MacNN
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President Bush sent his condolences.
President Bush eulogized Washoe, the chimp who had a 250-word vocabulary, issuing this official statement: “Me miss Washoe. Me sad Washoe dead.”
The Borowitz Report .com
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Why is there always money for war, but none for education?
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Mac Elite
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"Get your stinking paws off of me you damned dirty ape..."
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Posting Junkie
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What were her last words?
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Professional Poster
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Originally Posted by abe
She was a single mother and passed along the gift of speech to her only (adopted) son, Loulis.
Only time will tell us what the ramifications might be of this.
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Professional Poster
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__________________________________________________
Play Food Fight! available free on the App Store!
Or how about a really weird (or stupid) game: Nesen Probe, it's also free.
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Addicted to MacNN
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Originally Posted by - - e r i k - -
What were her last words?
"My God — it's full of stars!"
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