Ancient regulatory evolution shapes individual language abilities in present-day humans
> 100,000). HAQERs evolved before the human-Neanderthal split, giving hominins increased binding of Forkhead and Homeobox transcription factors, and show evidence of balancing selection across the past 20,000 years. Language-associated variants in HAQERs appear more prevalent in Neanderthals, and HAQER-like sequences show convergent evolution across vocal-learning mammals. Our results reveal how ancient innovations continue shaping human language.
Authors
- Dabney Hofamman
- Jacob J. Michaelson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9713-0992)
- Lucas G. Casten (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7690-6405)
- Jin‐Young Koh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6785-0515)
- Jeffrey C. Murray (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6346-6551)
- Marlea O’Brien
- Taylor Thomas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7503-9976)
- Allison M. Momany (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5466-7973)
- Tanner Koomar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0777-8678)
- Savantha Thenuwara
- J Bruce Tomblin
Institutions
- University of Iowa (US)
- University of Maryland, Baltimore (US)
- Massachusetts General Hospital (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science Advances
- Published
- 2026-04-22
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aed5260
- Primary Topic
- Language and cultural evolution
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust
- National Institutes of Health