• Question: in millions years ago did the animals talk ?

    Asked by rubaty to Angela, Gabriele, Karen, Shane on 20 Nov 2013.
    • Photo: Shane Mc Guinness

      Shane Mc Guinness answered on 20 Nov 2013:


      Sorry Rubaty,
      I’m afraid there is no evidence that animals could talk back then. They would need vocal chords to talk in the way we do, which we don’t think they had.
      But because these things do not preserve very well in fossils, we might have missed some clues to this. So, it’s possible, but very improbable. They might have made noises to communicate to each other, but not in the complex way we do today.

    • Photo: Angela Stevenson

      Angela Stevenson answered on 20 Nov 2013:


      Hi Rubaty! I m afraid I have to agree with Shane on this one: animals don’t talk and probably have never done so. In order to do so, they would require a voice box, which allows us to speak. Vocal chords have only really evolved in humans. Animals do, however, ‘talk’ with each other.. but they communicate very differently than we do, with sounds rather than words 😉

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