Practice question · True or false
FOXP2 is best described as the gene for language.
Hints
- Consider what the gene does and where else it is found.
- It is involved in motor sequencing and is present across vertebrates.
Show the answer
False
Why
False. FOXP2 is involved in motor sequencing, exists across vertebrates, and differs between humans and chimpanzees at two amino acids. The KE family's disorder shows that disrupting it disrupts speech and language, which is a long way from it being the gene for either.
Practise Origins, Evolution and Linguistic Relativity
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