“singing mice had approximately three times the number of neurons sending signals from the motor cortex to two specific downstream regions of the brain”

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https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/06/science/a-mutation-gave-humans-the-gift-of-speech-these-mice-have-it-too.html

Language features emerge in small brains without novel anatomy but through expansion of existing pathways.

I strongly suspect something like this enabled humans to read.