...speech and throwing capabilities came as a package (Neanderthals)

[Brian.Pearson]

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Can't help molding some snow into a ball and hurling it or tossing a stone as far into a lake as you can? New research from Indiana University and the University of Wyoming shows how humans, unlike any other species on Earth, readily learn to throw long distances. This research also suggests that this unique evolutionary trait is entangled with language development in a way critical to our very existence.

[harry chickpea]

I thought this was going to be a thread on how to throw your voice.

[jtur88]

Dizzy Dean could throw something fierce, but wasn't all that good at talkin'.

I think it's a bit of a stretch to assume that just because humans developed multiple skills, that any two skills are related somehow. That is a logical fallacy, that one sees repeated over and over again in the Politics and Other Controversies subforum, but that (like everything else they say over there) doesn't necessarily make it true.

Prehensile hands and speech did not necessarily develop in tandem, and the only thing an animal needs to learn to throw rocks at prey (which has survival value) is a prehensile hand to hold the rock and an opposable thumb to give the necessary release point to throw with accuracy. Man's hand and thumb also enabled us to tie our shoes, but that doesn't imply a developmental link between speech and laced footwear.

[Brian.Pearson]

On the other hand, Neanderthals most probably could not throw worth a hoot.