Monkey lip smacks provide new insights into the evolution of human speech
Saturday, June 2, 2012 - 16:30
in Biology & Nature
Scientists have traditionally sought the evolutionary origins of human speech in primate vocalizations. But unlike these primate calls, human speech is produced using movements of the tongue, lips and jaw. Speech is also learned, while primate vocalizations are mostly innately structured. New research supports the idea that human speech evolved less from vocalizations than from communicative facial gestures.