Globularization and Domestication

This paper aims to explore a potential connection between two hypotheses recently put forward in the context of language evolution. One hypothesis argues that some human-specific change(s) in the hominin brain developmental program habilitated the neuronal workspace that enabled “cognitive modernity” to unfold, also resulting in our globularized braincase. The other argues that the cultural niche resulting from our self-domestication favored the emergence of natural languages. In this article we document numerous links between the genetic changes we have claimed may have brought about globularization and neural crest cells, which have been claimed to explain the constellation of distinctive traits (physical, cognitive, and behavioral) found in all domesticated mammals. If these links turn out to be as robust as we think they are, globularization and self-domestication may well be closely related phenomena in the context of human evolution.Preparation of this work was supported by funds from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Grants FFI2013-43823-P and FFI2014-61888-EXP), as well as funds from a Marie Curie International Reintegration Grant from the European Union (PIRG-GA-2009-256413), research funds from the Fundacio Bosch i Gimpera, and from the Generalitat de Catalunya (2014-SGR-200, and FI-grant)