Neanderthals may have talked By Michael Kahn
Thu Oct 18, 12:11 PM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Neanderthals, often portrayed as grunting, club-
carrying brutes, may have been capable of sophisticated speech,
researchers said on Thursday.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071018/sc_nm/neanderthals_speech_dc;_ylt=AtTez1QPxNKV_x828c0x7S1xieAA

A DNA analysis shows Neanderthals share with humans two key changes in
the FOXP2 gene known to be involved in speech, raising the possibility
the species possessed some prerequisites for language, the researchers
said.

"From the point of this gene at least the Neanderthals could have had
language like we do," said Johannes Krause, a biochemist at the Max
Planck Institute in Leipzig, who led the study.

But many as yet unknown genes may also underlie the capacity for
language, the researchers added.

FOXP2 produces a protein that turns other genes on and off and people
who carry a non-functioning copy of the gene have speech and language
problems.

Animals ranging from mice to orangutans have the gene and scientists
had thought a relatively small change in FOXP2 emerged just as humans
did less than 200,000 years ago.

The findings published in Current Biology suggest the genetic
variation occurred long before, potentially as long as 400,000 years
ago.

"We were surprised to find the same variant of the FOXP2 gene that
humans have," Krause said. "This suggests that the last common
ancestor Neanderthal and humans shared had this gene."

Neanderthals were a dead-end offshoot of the human line who inhabited
Europe and parts of west and central Asia. Research indicates they
were expert tool-makers, used animal skins to keep warm and cared for
each other.

Most researchers believe Neanderthals survived in Europe until the
arrival of fully modern humans about 30,000 years ago although
controversial findings last year suggested they might have survived
until as recently as 24,000 years ago.

Nobody knows if Neanderthals could talk but this finding shows they
had at least had a key genetic change required for speech -- an
evolutionary edge critical for human survival, Krause said.

"Language is a more sophisticated way to pass on knowledge to the next
generation," he said. "You live like an infant if you do not learn."

In their study, the researchers extracted DNA from a collection of
Neanderthal remains recently excavated from a site in Northern Spain.

Because the bones were so well preserved, the scientists were also
able to retrieve nuclear DNA from Neanderthals, opening the way for a
more complete understanding of human and Neanderthal evolution, Krause
said.

"Nuclear DNA is the DNA in the nucleus of the cell that makes up
nearly all the genetic information people carry. We can now study
every Neanderthal gene we are interested in."

Neanderthals may have talked By Michael Kahn
Thu Oct 18, 12:11 PM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Neo-Conservatives, often portrayed as grunting, club-
carrying brutes, may have been capable of sophisticated speech,
researchers said on Thursday.