A news flurry erupted this week over a decidedly indirect hint that Neanderthals, those distant but big-brained cousins of H. sapiens, could talk. Researchers, including well-known biologist Svante Paabo, at the Max Planck Inst. for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, and colleagues in Spain, are reporting they isolated a gene associated with speech in humans from a fragment of Neanderthal bone. It resembles the human version in a key sequence that is different in all other vertebrates, including chimps. When damaged in people, their speech may be affected. Ergo, it is sensible to think the mutation in people, and now seen shared with Neanderthals, has to do with speech.

In the NYTimes Nicholas Wade gives the news, being reported formally in Current Biology, an impressive treatment. His story includes details on the many reasons that the conclusion ought be regarded as highly tentative — including reports by others of the good chance that the analyzed sample is contaminated by human DNA. Furthermore, a link between a specific allele and ability to speak is, in the end, highly speculative.

Other stories:

The Register Lucy Sherriff has the story and attributes one of her quotes to the NYTimes piece; DiscoveryNews Jennifer Viegas ; LiveScience via FoxNews Charles Q. Choi; Nature Kerri Smith gets in a big dose of caution; The Economist gives the issue a typical, cheeky but fine treatment; Reuters Michael Kahn;

Grist for the Mill: Current Biology paper;

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