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Human language has always been one of the most fascinating scientific enigmas and still not completely understood in its extraordinary complexity. For decades, in the study of the motor systems with which we are able to articulate sounds - communicating in a way that is as complex as it is effective - some species of birds have been adopted as a comparative model. Only in recent years has research devoted attention to the vocal abilities of great apes and a recent study has highlighted how orangutans are able to produce calls that correspond in motor ability and complexity to birdsong and human beatboxing. The reflections of neuroscientist Giorgio Vallortigara, full professor at the University of Trento, and neurolinguist Andrea Moro, full professor at the Scuola Universitaria Superiore di Pavia, trying to understand the scope and importance of the most recent discoveries.