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Period9th（Term: from Oct. 2018）
グローバル型 -
Research InterestsAnimal Behavior
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Research TopicFrom bird calls to human language: adaptation and evolution of linguistic capabilities
Uncovering the evolution of language remains a deep challenge in science. The complexity and expressive power of language are unparalleled in the animal kingdom, making it difficult to find out its evolutionary origins. However, individual cognitive abilities required for language can be observed in nonhuman species. Using an interdisciplinary approach combining ethology, comparative psychology, linguistics, and evolutionary biology, I explore the adaptation and evolution of linguistic capabilities in wild animals. My study subject is the avian family Paridae. In this group, ca. 60 species occur in the Northern Hemisphere and Africa, living in various habitats, showing a case of adaptive radiation. The goal of my research is not only to uncover the evolutionary processes of linguistic capabilities in these birds but also to provide an ecological reasoning to the current theory of language evolution.