The same gene for speech and echolocation

2007/09/20 Rementeria Argote, Nagore - Elhuyar Zientziaren Komunikazioa

• Eboluzioa
• Genetika

Apparently, the gene that human beings need to speak is related to the eco-location of bats, that is, with the ability to detect objects in their environment and emit high-frequency sounds used for hunting. The gene is FOXP2 and experts believe it has been an essential place in the evolution of sound communication of mammals.

Research on this gene has not stopped in the last decade. In 2001 he was related to language and language problems. In 2002 he was related to the evolution of speech capacity. And in 2005 they saw that mice without that gene were unable to communicate by ultrasound.

On the way opened by these studies, the FOXP2 gene has been sequenced entirely in 13 species of bats, 23 mammals, two birds and one reptile. They have focused on the gene mutations of each of these species, noting that certain gene mutations are related to eco-location.

Photo: Horseshoe bat of the species Rhinolophus rex (S. Rossiter).