during more recent stages of human evolution, we began to develop a more caudally located tongue, hyoid bone, and larynx—meaning these features became positioned farther down in the throat. At birth, these structures are situated as high in the throat as in other mammals. However, they begin to migrate downward relatively early during growth and development in humans.41 The result of this unique pattern of ontogeny is that the adult human supralaryngeal vocal tract forms a double resonator. This, along with our remarkably limber tongues and more advanced brains, grants us the ability to
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