Correlates of Vocal Tract Evolution in Late Pliocene and Pleistocene Hominins
(2025) In Human Nature 36(1). p.22-69- Abstract
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... (More)
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.
(Less)
- author
- Ekström, Axel G. ; Gärdenfors, Peter LU ; Snyder, William D. ; Friedrichs, Daniel ; McCarthy, Robert C. ; Tsapos, Melina LU ; Tennie, Claudio ; Strait, David S. ; Edlund, Jens and Moran, Steven
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025-03
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Articulatory phonetics, Biological anthropology, Cognitive evolution, Cooking hypothesis, Evolution of speech, Paleoanthropology
- in
- Human Nature
- volume
- 36
- issue
- 1
- article number
- e116136
- pages
- 48 pages
- publisher
- Springer
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105002813677
- pmid:40244547
- ISSN
- 1045-6767
- DOI
- 10.1007/s12110-025-09487-9
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- e1a21d5e-90f2-4fa7-ad21-360a0c362428
- date added to LUP
- 2025-09-01 12:19:30
- date last changed
- 2025-09-01 13:12:49
@article{e1a21d5e-90f2-4fa7-ad21-360a0c362428,
abstract = {{<p>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.</p>}},
author = {{Ekström, Axel G. and Gärdenfors, Peter and Snyder, William D. and Friedrichs, Daniel and McCarthy, Robert C. and Tsapos, Melina and Tennie, Claudio and Strait, David S. and Edlund, Jens and Moran, Steven}},
issn = {{1045-6767}},
keywords = {{Articulatory phonetics; Biological anthropology; Cognitive evolution; Cooking hypothesis; Evolution of speech; Paleoanthropology}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
pages = {{22--69}},
publisher = {{Springer}},
series = {{Human Nature}},
title = {{Correlates of Vocal Tract Evolution in Late Pliocene and Pleistocene Hominins}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12110-025-09487-9}},
doi = {{10.1007/s12110-025-09487-9}},
volume = {{36}},
year = {{2025}},
}