Scientists at St Andrews University have been given £3.2million to study how human learning and language have evolved.
Professor Kevin Laland of the school of biology and Dr Tecumseh Fitch, of the school of psychology, will work together on the project.
In a new series of studies, the pair will look at a range of animals including primates, ravens and pigeons to gain better understanding into evolution.
Topics analysed will include social learning in fish and birds and the role of speech sounds, visual patterns and musical phrases in the lives of humans and animals.
Financial backing has come from the newly-formed European Research Council, providing jobs for up to 16 researchers and students.
Both academics are members of the Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, a research centre within the university. It brings together scientists from the schools of psychology and biology with shared research agendas.
Professor Laland’s research will focus on the evolution of social learning in fish, birds and humans.
“The project is expected to offer a major step forward in our understanding of human evolution, adaptation and culture and to stimulate considerable interdisciplinary exchange,” he said.
At the same time Dr Fitch will examine to what extent human characteristics such as expression through visual art, music and speech are shared with other species.
“Human cognition is differentiated from that of other species by the degree to which humans can express anything that they can think, express themselves via visual art, music and speech, or develop ever-improving cultural systems like technology and science,” he said.
“To what extent are these human characteristics shared with other species? Do each of these highly-developed human attributes result from different underlying cognitive abilities, or is there some commonality underlying all of them?”
The grants add to more than £8million previously gained by the research centre since its foundation in 2003.