Recently, scientists are able to rebuild the vocal tracts and record the sounds of ancient creatures, including the mammoths that died out about 14,000 years ago, the now extinct Hawaiian bird, and even our 3 million year old human ancestor named, Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis). The scientists are able to do this by using three-dimensional imaging and a burgeoning knowledge of ancient anatomies. Our ancient ancestor, Lucy stood four feet tall. She swung from tree branches and was able to run on the ground with two feet. “Lucy could not speak the way we do, because she most likely had air sacs, balloon-shaped organs that attach to an extension of the hyoid bone,” says the expert in evolution of speech at Vrije University in Brussels, Bart de Boer. Modern day humans

Lack air sacs but have a bone that supports the tongue muscles. This enables us to have a wide range of vocalizations. “Air sacs make sounds louder and lower-pitched, just the way a musical instrument sounds lower and louder when it’s bigger,” says de Boer. “I was in Brazil recently and heard howler monkeys in the wild. They sounded like scary monsters because of their air sacs.”

Information obtained at www.discovermagazine.com and pictures obtained at www.nationalgeographic.com and www.physorg.com