Scientific Groups Disagree About Neanderthals’ Ability to Speak

Recent reports indicating that Neanderthals were able to speak were wrong, researchers say. Scientists from Duke University reported in May that a bony canal in the skulls of Neanderthals called the hypoglossal canal--which carries the nerve complex required for speech--is as large as that in modern humans, indicating a capacity for speech.

But a UC Berkeley team reported in Tuesday’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that the hypoglossal canals of many primates--which do not speak--are as large as those of humans. They conclude that the size of the hypoglossal canal is not necessarily related to the ability to speak.

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Compiled by Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II