Our research shows that gorillas Koko and Michael have used American Sign Language (ASL) in sophisticated ways, with sign phrase lengths of over 8 signs, and consistent grammatical structure.

Up through June 1973, she conducted sign language lessons with Koko from the Children's Zoo exhibit. The environment was noisy and distracting, so Patterson and her life partner Ron Cohn purchased a trailer in which they could conduct Koko's signing sessions. Around this time, Patterson realized that conflict with the zoo was "inevitable."

Here are the signs for a few common zoo animals: Monkey: Place the fingertips of both hands at your waist and move your fingertips up to your armpits; repeat this motion several times. Lion: Rest your hand on top of your head with your fingertips facing forward at your forehead, then pull your hand back and down to the back of your neck.

Watch Koko the signing gorilla in this clip from a 1981 National Geographic documentary. Koko died in her sleep on Tuesday, June 19, 2018. Subscribe: http://bit.ly/NatGeoSubscribe About National...

2015年8月28日 · Over the past 43 years, since Patterson began teaching Koko at the age of 1, the gorilla has learned more than 1,000 words of modified American Sign Language—a vocabulary comparable to that of...

While sign language is the most obvious form of communication to attempt with another species who looks like us, gestures like us, but doesn’t have the vocal capacity of humans, other useful forms of two-communication have emerged in the process, including:

2018年6月21日 · Research and work with Koko, and other gorillas, has revealed that great apes have language skills similar to small children. Anne Russon, a researcher at York University, said that teaching Koko...

2018年6月23日 · Koko, the gorilla who mastered sign language and became a pop-culture phenomenon, will be laid to rest Saturday in a ceremony at an animal sanctuary in Northern California where she lived for decades.

2018年6月21日 · Koko was born at the San Francisco Zoo, and Dr. Francine Patterson began teaching the gorilla sign language that became part of a Stanford University project in 1974. In 2004, she used...

2018年6月21日 · Koko, whose extraordinary ability to communicate with humans and aptitude with American Sign Language helped show the world the emotional depth and intelligence of animals, died in her sleep this...