Neanderthals could speak like humans, study suggests

[Eugene]

Source: BBC

20 December 2013 Last updated at 16:06 GMT

Neanderthals could speak like humans, study suggests

By Melissa Hogenboom
Science reporter, BBC News

An analysis of a Neanderthal's hyoid bone - a horseshoe shaped structure in the neck - suggests they had the ability to speak.

Until now the strongest support came from a 1989 Neanderthal hyoid fossil, the same shape as those of humans.

But computer modelling of how it works has shown their hyoid bone was also used in a very similar way.

Writing in journal Plos One, the team says their work is "highly suggestive" of complex speech in Neanderthals.

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Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25465102

[wilt the stilt]

1. I know neanderthals

who speak like humans right now. Jack Kingston is a perfect example.

[brer cat]

3. +1 nt

[painesghost]

2. This is very exciting! n/t

[Politicalboi]

4. I hope they know English is our language

If it's good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for a Neanderthal.

[Lint Head]

5. Neanderthals were not human?

[mopinko]

6. i am totally dissatisfied.

where is the comparison to ape's anatomy? equal capacity to make sounds and equal capacity for speech are pretty different things, eh what?

[CthulhusEvilCousin]

7. Why?

They have already found that ancient humans and neanderthals intermixed to a large degree, with many of us having Neanderthal in our ancestry to some degree, which cannot be done if we're talking about two separate species. If that is the case, Neanderthals are fully human, albeit with different features.