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Monday, November 23, 2009

Photo: First Chimp to Sign Dies


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This is a 1995 picture of Washoe, a chimpanzee that was considered the first nonhuman to use human language when she learned American Sign Language. She had a vocabulary of about 250 words.

Washoe died Tuesday of Natural causes in Washington State. She was in her early 40s.

Photograph courtesy Central Washington University