Vocal repertoire ontogeny in Saccopteryx bilineata [Elektronische Ressource] : evidence for vocal learning in a bat / vorgelegt von Mirjam Knörnschild

Vocal Repertoire Ontogeny in Saccopteryx bilineata Evidence for Vocal Learning in a Bat Der Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades vorgelegt von Mirjam Knörnschild aus Bayreuth Als Dissertation genehmigt von der Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 16.07.2009 Vorsitzender der Promotionskommission: Prof. Dr. Eberhard Bänsch Erstberichterstatter: Prof. Dr. Otto von Helversen Zweitberichterstatter: Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Kalko Man is not the only animal that can make use of language to express what is passing in his mind, and can understand, more or less, what is so expressed by another. (…) The habitual use of articulate language is, however, peculiar to man. (…) That which distinguishes man from the lower animals is (…) not the mere articulation (…) nor is it the mere capacity of connecting definite sounds with definite ideas. (…) The lower animals differ from man solely in his almost infinitely larger power of associating together the most diversified sounds and ideas; and this obviously depends on the high development of his mental powers. Charles Darwin In: The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex.