Monkeys and humans have been compared for years: “we've all heard the expression monkey sees, monkey does. But should the saying really be “monkey hear, monkey do?” » (Sakrison) Recent studies reveal that the linguistic abilities of some monkeys are more sophisticated than we ever thought possible (Sakrison). Monkeys often always live together in social groups. And each member contributes by helping to defend their food sources, watch out for predators, and even raise each other's young. Is it impossible to live in a social group without some form of communication? Do group members need ways to influence and inform each other? This is what drives language. (Sakrison)Primates have evolved many ways to communicate; these include visual cues and auditory calls. Visual signals can only work if they can be seen, and in the dense forest and undergrowth in which most primates live, auditory signals are a much more useful tool. Calls and vocalizations can also be varied in terms of pitch, intensity and duration, during which messages can be transmitted. The basic messages that primates need to successfully live in groups are alarm calls, territorial calls, food calls, self-identification calls, and dominance calls. Some primates have developed more complex and specialized forms of auditory communication (Sakrison). Some have even developed a type of language. No animal possesses all aspects of human language, but several species possess some. Diana monkeys are some of the most intelligent monkeys when it comes to language; they combined calls to create sentence-like messages. This requires some type of grammar. The meaning of the "phrase" depends on the sounds included and the order in which they are found. The added sounds can emit...... middle of paper ......t forms of communication with each other in In the world of primates, besides the typical grunts, calls and facial expressions, they communicate very well with each other and, although we cannot understand vocally, communication with primates is improving from year to year. Perhaps one day primates will evolve enough to communicate with us as we do with each other. Works Cited Kosseff, Lauren. “Primary use of language.” Use of language by primates. NP, 2008. Web. May 1, 2011. Malakoff, David. “A conversation with Koko.” PBS Nature. NP, 2007. Web. May 1, 2011. Sakrison, Angela. “Clever Monkeys: monkeys and language.” PBS Nature. Educational Broadcasting Corporation, 2008. Web. May 1 2011. .