Correlates of Vocal Tract Evolution in Late Pliocene and Pleistocene Hominins

Dados Bibliográficos

ID5362497
AutoresAxel G Ekström (0000-0002-6739-0838, University of Neuchâtel, autor correspondente), Peter Gärdenfors (0000-0001-7423-828X, Lund University), William D Snyder (0000-0001-5878-984X, Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment), Daniel Friedrichs (0000-0002-9185-2940, Infrastructure Management Consultants (Switzerland)), Robert C Mccarthy (0000-0001-8093-2796, Benedictine University), Melina Tsapos (0000-0001-6779-9732, Lund University), Claudio Tennie (0000-0002-5302-4925, University of Tübingen), David S Strait, David Strait (0000-0002-3572-1663, Washington University in St. Louis), Jens Edlund (0000-0001-9327-9482, KTH Royal Institute of Technology), Steven Moran (0000-0002-3969-6549, University of Miami)
Ano2025
Volume36
Fascículo1
Páginas22-69
Data de publicação2025-03-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoHuman Nature (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1045-6767 • E-ISSN: 1936-4776
EditoraSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s12110-025-09487-9
PMID40244547
OpenAlexW4409560067
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas2
Referências citadas352

Despite decades of research on the emergence of human speech capacities, an integrative account consistent with hominin evolution remains lacking. We review paleoanthropological and archaeological findings in search of a timeline for the emergence of modern human articulatory morphological features. Our synthesis shows that several behavioral innovations coincide with morphological changes to the would-be speech articulators. We find that significant reductions of the mandible and masticatory muscles and vocal tract anatomy coincide in the hominin fossil record with the incorporation of processed and (ultimately) cooked food, the appearance and development of rudimentary stone tools, increases in brain size, and likely changes to social life and organization. Many changes are likely mutually reinforcing; for example, gracilization of the hominin mandible may have been maintainable in the lineage because food processing had already been outsourced to the hands and stone tools, reducing selection pressures for robust mandibles in the process. We highlight correlates of the evolution of craniofacial and vocal tract features in the hominin lineage and outline a timeline by which our ancestors became 'pre-adapted' for the evolution of fully modern human speech

Archaeology · Biological evolution · Biology · Craniofacial · Evolutionary biology · Hominidae · Human evolution · Paleoanthropology · Timeline · Vocal tract · Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior · Computer Science · History · Language and cultural evolution · Phonetics and Phonology Research · Paleontology