Vocal communication in harbour seal pups: Implications for language evolution
de Reus, K. (2026). Vocal communication in harbour seal pups: Implications for language evolution. PhD Thesis. Van Marle: Hengelo. ISBN 978-94-92910-72-1. 228 pp.
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Document type: Dissertation
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| Abstract |
How and why did language evolve in humans? Can we learn from studying communication in other animals? Language is a uniquely effective and powerful tool to interact with others and is often considered to be what sets us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. Despite this, many species have also evolved elaborate communication systems, some of which even show features found in human language. The discovery in the 1980s that harbour seals can imitate human speech promised a new comparative model for language evolution studies. However, we currently miss a comprehensive understanding of the features shared between human language and harbour seal communication to enable effective cross-species comparisons. This thesis provides a long-awaited, interdisciplinary account of some vocal *communication features in harbour seals, including vocal flexibility, vocal development, social accommodation, and turn-taking. All the empirical studies in this thesis were performed using non-invasive methods from bioacoustics (audio recordings and a playback experiment) and morphometrics (anatomical measurements). Additionally, this thesis contributes a qualitative cross-species review on the rhythmic patterns observed in social interactions between animal dyads of several mammals, birds, anurans, and insects. Taken together, my findings show that harbour seal communication shares features with that of other species and human language, reinforcing its value as a comparative model for language evolution research. Finally, this work demonstrates how the comparative approach can be applied to communicative behaviours to shed light on the biological and social factors driving their evolution. |
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