Capacity for language evolved at least 30 million years ago, scientists believe

Chimpanzees Tina and Martin, at the National Center for Chimpanzee Care in Texas, Us, who were involved in the language experiments (University of Warwick)

The capacity for language evolved somewhere between 30 and 40 million years ago, scientists believe.

It is thought that building blocks of language began to take shape with the arrival of anatomically modern Homo sapiens about 200,000 years ago.