TIL that in 1800 Alexander von Humboldt found a pet parrot in Amazonia that was the last "speaker" of an extinct language. He documented what it said, and his notes are the only trace of this language
TIL that in 1800 Alexander von Humboldt found a pet parrot in Amazonia that was the last "speaker" of an extinct language. He documented what it said, and his notes are the only trace of this language

The Parrot That Kept A Language Alive

Even if it's just an apocryphal story, it's at least a crazy-interesting concept that I hadn't even considered before.