Speaker: Dr Gabriel Jorgewich-Cohen, University of Zurich

Title: What can reptiles say about the evolution of language? The importance of non-model species on broad evolutionary studies

Abstract

Vocal communication, broadly distributed along the vertebrate phylogeny, plays a fundamental role in parental care, mate attraction and various other behaviours. Despite its importance, comparatively less is known about the evolutionary roots of vocal communication. Phylogenetic comparative analyses can provide insights into the deep time evolutionary origin of different traits associated to vocal communication and associated cognitive abilities, but they are often plagued by missing data from key species. The phylogenetic position occupied by non-avian reptiles make them highly influential lineages in comparative studies, commonly focused only on mammals and birds. In fact, reptiles can tell us a lot more about our own language than we might think.

Speaker’s Bio

Bachelors and teaching degree in biological sciences by the Sao Paulo State University; Masters in zoology by the University of Sao Paulo, PhD in Palaeontology by the University of Zurich. Currently working at Simon Townsend's group at the Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology of the University of Zurich. I have always been interested in evolution, with a special focus on herpetology.

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