Loud and clear - more evidence for early human communication

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The auditory bones of 530,000-year-old skulls indicate that an early human species called Homo heidelbergensis may have heard sounds much the way people do today.

NOT HARD OF HEARINGLike in modern humans (shown in solid blue), the ear canal of H. heidelbergensis (shown in red and magenta lines) had a peak in auditory sensitivity in the frequency range from 2 kilohertz to 4 kilohertz, where much spoken information is transmitted. Chimpanzees (shown in solid green) have a dip in sensitivity in that range.

[edit on 9/7/08 by Hanslune]