The descent of the human larynx is one of the things which makes speech possible. It’s also the reason we can choke on our food, so it must have had large advantages. It was therefore one of the crucial steps in the separation of our lineage from the other hominids. Now it turns out that chimpanzee larynges descend a little too, without their gaining complete articulacy. The reason this matters is that it shows how a succession of small regulatory changes — presumably all that is needed for the descent to continue to our level — could have considerable consequences. (snalffled from the Pitchford list)
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