News » Press Releases (tag [Evolution])

Treetop Tutorials: Orangutans learn how to build their beds by ‘peering’ at others and a lot of practice!

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 08:00:00 GMT

In the wild, nest-building is key to survival for orangutans – University of Warwick scientists show they learn this skill by watching others and practicing themselves.

Warwick research finds communication complexity in orangutans thought to be uniquely human

Fri, 16 May 2025 11:00:00 GMT

In groundbreaking work from The University of Warwick, researchers have found that wild orangutans vocalise with a layered complexity previously thought to be unique to human communication, suggesting a much older evolutionary origin.

They like to move it move it! Lemur communication shows how humans evolved to create music

Wed, 26 Jun 2024 12:32:00 GMT

A type of lemur which communicates in rhythmic song shows how humans have evolved to create music, according to researchers at The University of Warwick.

Scientists use X-rays to reveal ancient secrets this National Dinosaur Day

Thu, 01 Jun 2023 10:15:00 GMT

Researchers are shedding light on our ancient prehistoric world using state-of-the art X-ray technology. This World Dinosaur Day, scientists are revealing the hidden bones of the Harbury Ichthyosaur – providing clues to dinosaur anatomy, physiology and evolution.

Ape ‘vocabularies’ shaped by social mingling — like in humans

Tue, 22 Mar 2022 11:12:00 GMT

Social mingling shapes and transforms the ‘vocabularies’ of apes, just like in humans, according to new research led by the University of Warwick.

Great apes' consonant and vowel-like sounds travel over distance without losing meaning

Wed, 29 Sep 2021 21:57:00 GMT

Scientists have shown that orangutan call signals believed to be closest to the precursors to human language, travel through forest over long distances without losing their meaning. This throws into question the accepted mathematical model on the evolution of human speech according to researchers from the University of Warwick.

Identified: A mechanism that protects plant fertility from stress

Mon, 01 Mar 2021 10:08:39 GMT

As Temperatures rise due to global warming the need to protect plants from stressful conditions has increased, as stress can cause a loss in yield and cause further impact economically. A consortium led by the University of Warwick have successfully identified two proteins that protect crops from stress, which is key in safeguarding food production.

Chemical memory in plants affects chances of offspring survival

Tue, 01 Dec 2020 09:50:00 GMT

Researchers at the University of Warwick have uncovered the mechanism that allows plants to pass on their ‘memories’ to offspring, which results in growth and developmental defects.

Building blocks of language evolved 30-40 million years ago

Thu, 22 Oct 2020 08:24:37 GMT

The capacity for language is built upon our ability to understand combinations of words and the relationships between them, but the evolutionary history of this ability is little understood. Now, researchers from the University of Warwick have managed to date this capacity to at least 30-40 million years ago, the last common ancestor of monkeys, apes and humans.

Warwick researcher to investigate the link between apes and the evolution of human language

Thu, 15 Oct 2020 09:56:39 GMT

Dr Adriano R. Lameira, from the Department of Psychology at the University of Warwick, has been awarded a prestigious UKRI Future Leader Fellowship, for his project: The ape and the first word: Understanding the origins and evolution of the first linguistic structures in the human clade through comparative research.