The evolution of language was an important step in becoming human. With language, early humans could hunt together, discuss the day s events, and plan for the days and months ahead. The fact is, only humans use spoken language. Looking at the baboons, I try to imagine the first time a human spoke. It s hard to guess when all you have are a bunch of ancient fossils.
Scientists get clues by looking at the insides of fossil skulls.
They think that as long ago as 1.5 million years, an early human called Homo erectus might have been able to talk a little. But scientists think it wasn t until the arrival of fully modern man, Homo sapiens , that people made full use of language. If this is true, people were able to tell stories, make jokes, and describe the beauty and dangers of the world around them starting about 100,000 years ago. One factor is their brain size. Baboon brains are larger than the brains of most primates, but a lot smaller than what we ve got knocking around in our heads.