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Tarsiers are nocturnal animals. They have eyes that are heavier than their brains. They eat only insects and other living things. Tarsiers are primates, just like humans. And some species of tarsiers sing! Tarsier songs and human language are different in many ways. But if we study the similarities, it may help us better understand human language. In our study, we recorded singing tarsiers on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. With the help of computers, we found that we could tell individual tarsiers apart based on their songs. Being able to recognize who is singing from far away may be an important function of tarsier songs. We also found that if a female speeds up her song, then the male speeds up his song, too. The ability to modify vocal output based on what others are doing is a universal in human language. Our results show that tarsiers (like humans) can change their vocalizations based on what their partner is doing. The fact that tarsiers and humans are both able to do this indicates that their common ancestor probably had this ability. Our results add support to the idea that flexibility in vocal interactions evolved long before the appearance of modern humans.

What Studying the Songs of a Distant Primate Relative Can Teach Us About Ourselves