About 2, 500,000 year ago, our ancestors probably had at least the beginning of speech. About 1 1/2 million years ago, the Larynx began to slowly do down into its place were it is now. "The Larynx contains the vocal cords that allow us to produce sounds from our throat. In most mammals the larynx sits higher in the throat and connects with the nasal passages." As soon as our ancestors started chasing game, the larynx got lower, and we could run longer distances because we were now breathing through the mouth and the nose! Although, our ancestors couldn't talk, they surely used hand gestures and facial expressions to communicate with one another. However when building complex water crafts for sea voyages later on, they must have needed some complexity in their speech because they needed to decide on where they were going and who was going to go. In conclusion, I now know what a larynx is, how it came to were it is now, and what are the advantages of having it lower for humans/ancestors.
"From Grunts to Grammar: The Evolution of Language." Odyssey: Adventures in Science Oct. 2009: n. pag. Print.
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