Humans’ ability to speak has been attributed to their unique anatomical features, specifically with respect to the vocal tract—although this is debated—and brain capacity. A study published online today (August 11) in Science posits that, somewhat counterintuitively, an anatomical simplification in the human larynx may have been an important step in the evolution of complex speech. Based on a comparative analysis among modern primates, experiments, and mathematical modeling, the authors propose that the loss of a laryngeal membrane may have helped stabilize vocalization in human ancestors, facilitating extensive information sharing through spoken language.
“Language evolution is one of the most enigmatic” events in human evolutionary history, says coauthor Takeshi Nishimura, a primate researcher at Kyoto University in Japan. Other transition events, such as bipedal locomotion and increased brain size, can be studied through the fossil record, he says, “but the language was never fossilized.”
Comparisons among extant nonhuman primates are ...
