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Given the existence of two preconditions\u2014a \u201clanguage faculty\u201d and the capacity for imitative learning both vocally and manually\u2014there is no compelling evidence for gesture being inherently inferior to vocalization as a mode of linguistic expression; indeed, signed languages are capable of the same expressive range as spoken ones. Here, we revisit this conundrum, championing recent methodological advances in human neuroimaging (specifically, in utero functional magnetic resonance imaging) as a window into the role of the prenatal gestational period in language evolution, a critical, yet currently underexplored environment in which fetuses are exposed to, and become attuned to, spoken language. In this Unsolved Mystery, we outline how, compared to visual sensitivity, the ontogenically earlier development of auditory sensitivity, beginning in utero and persisting for several months <jats:italic>post-partum,<\/jats:italic> alongside the relative permeability of the uterine environment to sound, but not light, may constitute a small but significant contribution to the current dominance of spoken language.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pbio.3003141","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,15]],"date-time":"2025-04-15T17:39:24Z","timestamp":1744738764000},"page":"e3003141","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pbio.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["How did vocal communication come to dominate human language? 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