Humans and Neanderthals share a common ancestor, likely Homo heidelbergensis, a species we diverged from as many as 400,000 years ago. We survived, while Neanderthals died out, though at a certain point, interbreeding likely contributed to the similarities we’ve found between our genomes. We probably interacted and swapped certain cultural aspects with our Neanderthal cousins, perhaps language included.
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, argue in a recent review study that rather than language being the result of a single genetic mutation, it evolved more gradually.
Read the full article here: Language May Have Evolved Way Earlier Than We Thought
