At the turn of the 20th century, a famous horse named Clever Hans toured Germany. The horse stunned crowds as his trainer demonstrated the animal's alleged ability to understand German, tell time and ...

Language was long understood as a human-only affair. New research suggests that isn’t so. Credit...Illustration by Denise Nestor Supported by By Sonia Shah Can a mouse learn a new song? Such a ...

Socrates, a great philosopher, speculated that without verbal or written language, one could communicate using sign language. Little did he know that more than 2,000 years later, animals would be able ...

In the 1970s a young gorilla known as Koko drew worldwide attention with her ability to use human sign language. But skeptics maintain that Koko and other animals that “learned” to speak (including ...

Talking to animals has long been a human fantasy. But what is the nature of animal communication—and how does chirping and barking differ from human language? This is the first episode in a two-part ...

Sophie Cohen-Bodénès knew she was onto something when she saw the cuttlefish extend two arms upwards while twisting its six others together. It was making what she calls the “up” sign – and, ...

Koko the gorilla doted on her pet kitten as if it were her own child. To the amazement of her human handlers, she seemed able to capture the joys and annoyances of maternal love in strings of simple ...

We can all get hangry from time to time, and deer are no exception. Deer may have a reputation for being mild-mannered, but some visitors to Nara Park in Japan have been unfortunate enough to see the ...

WOODSIDE, Calif.-- Koko, the gorilla who mastered sign language, has died. The Gorilla Foundation says the 46-year-old western lowland gorilla died in her sleep at the foundation's preserve in ...

A rescue cat using "sign language" when hungry has taken over TikTok. In a clip shared by user @ohcharliecat on January 24, a ginger tabby called Charlie can be seen putting his paws together and ...