Vocalisation may have shaped the evolution of our brain

One of those things that made me go, "huh, that's obvious", followed immediately by, "oh, okay, actually that's really interesting".

A new study has compared different primate species' brains. It revealed that primates with wider "vocal repertoires" had more of their brain dedicated to controlling their vocal apparatus. That suggests that our own speaking skills may have evolved as our brains gradually rewired to control that apparatus, rather than purely because we're smarter than non-human apes.

Humans and other primates have very similar vocal anatomy - in terms of their tongues and larynx. That's the physical machinery in the throat which allows us to turn air into sound. So, as lead researcher Dr Jacob Dunn from Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge explained, it remains a mystery that only human primates can actually talk. "That's likely due to differences in the brain," Dr Dunn told BBC News, "but there haven't been comparative studies across species."

These more vocally adept apes, the study revealed, had relatively large areas of the brain known as cortical association areas - essentially brain regions which receive sensory input and decide what to do with it. "They're a kind of filter to control the decision-making process," explained Dr Dunn.

Also, and perhaps most importantly, bonobos and the other more vocal apes - including chimpanzees - had much larger parts of the brain dedicated to control of the tongue. This suggests, the researchers say, that while our primate cousins may well be sufficiently smart to develop and understand complex ways of communicating, the voluntary control of their "vocal apparatus" - rather than their intelligence - is the limiting factor.

I wonder what such a study would find regarding non-vocal communications.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-45114322