by Zoë Pollock
Koko the gorilla has learned how to play the recorder:
Think of blowing out candles on a birthday cake, or powerfully pushing air through a trumpet to play music. It's usually argued that skilled breathing like this originated only in the primate lineage at the point when specialized anatomy made speech possible. Koko, of course, being a gorilla, cannot speak; she has no specialized anatomy for speech. Yet she does control her breathing in unusually precise ways. I'm always fascinated when an animal does something that she is supposed to be unable to do. And I think Koko's abilities have something to tell us about how we too may "grow" skills that may not come naturally to us.
(Image by Ronald H. Cohn for The Gorilla Foundation)
The Dish 