Language May Have Evolved Way Earlier Than We Thought

Far from the traditional view of Neanderthals as heavy-grunting prehumans, a new theory suggests that our extinct relatives may have been chattier than we assumed. 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. Dan Dediu and Stephen…