Biologically speaking, humans belong to the great apes. But why do we differ so fundamentally in our ability to communicate from chimpanzees, bonobos or gorillas? New results of behavioural research show that the differences are probably not that big and many of the building blocks of human language ability can already be recognised in rudimentary form in our closest relatives. The factors that led to the evolutionary transition from ape to human language are the subject of today’s research. The ability to cooperate – particularly highly developed in humans – seems to have been a driving force.