News from science trails: ability to speak, maybe to say nothing

Science Daily/University of New England, 3/2/14.  "Talking Neanderthals challenge the origins of speech." 

Neanderthals, we've got speech

We humans like to think of ourselves as unique for many reasons, not least of which being our ability to communicate with words. But ground-breaking research by an expert from the University of New England shows that our 'misunderstood cousins,' the Neanderthals, may well have spoken in languages not dissimilar to the ones we use today.

....  Associate Professor Stephen Wroe, a zoologist and palaeontologist from UNE, along with an international team of scientists and the use of 3D x-ray imaging technology, made the revolutionary discovery challenging this notion based on a 60,000 year-old Neanderthal hyoid bone discovered in Israel in 1989.

Recognize him?
Wasn't he walking Mori Point trail last Friday?
Better haircut, cleaner.

.... "By analysing the mechanical behavior of the fossilized bone with micro x-ray imaging, we were able to build models of the hyoid that included the intricate internal structure of the bone. We then compared them to models of modern humans. Our comparisons showed that in terms of mechanical behavior, the Neanderthal hyoid was basically indistinguishable from our own, strongly suggesting that this key part of the vocal tract was used in the same way.  "From this research, we can conclude that it's likely that the origins of speech and language are far, far older than once thought."  Read article.

Related article - International Business Times/Zoe Mintz, 3/3/14.  Tests performed on a 60,000 year-old Neanderthal hyoid bone show that the bone is “indistinguishable from our own,” suggesting the ancient humans used their vocal tract in a manner comparable to the way modern humans do. The new findings were published in the journal PLOS ONE. "To many, the Neanderthal hyoid discovered was surprising because its shape was very different to that of our closest living relatives, the chimpanzee and the bonobo. However, it was virtually indistinguishable from that of our own species. This led to some people arguing that this Neanderthal could speak," Stephen Wroe, a zoologist and paleontologist with the University of New England, said in a statement. 

Anatomy reference -  Acland's Atlas of Human Anatomy, 4.4.6: the hyoid bone. "The hyoid bone is a slender, U-shaped bone.  It's suspended just beneath the mandible. .... the hyoid bone has two important functions:  it holds up the tongue, which sits above it, and it holds up the larynx, which hangs below it.  It also transmits the force of muscles that help to open the jaw."  Encyclopaedia Britannica/hyoid bone, see Anchor point for tongue, attachment to larynx, embryological development of skull, and images (lower page), 3rd image over for exact location under jaw.

Note photograph/graphics:  Neanderthal with walking stick from Wired Science,"What makes us human? Neanderthal genome holds clues."  Ozzy Osbourne and Neanderthal from CNN, 10/28/10, "Ozzy Osbourne on genome testing, Neanderthal lineage."

Posted by Kathy Meeh