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The '''hyperglossal canal''' is a hole in the bottom of the [[skull]] in humans and some other animals, through which the [[hyperglossal nerve]] passes from the brain stem to most muscles of the [[tongue]].
The size of the hyperglossal canal in fossil skulls has been used to suggest the size of the hyperglossal nerve in various extinct [[homininae|hominins]], which in turn indicates the degree of control they had over their tongues and the probability they had developed [[language]]. [[Australopithecine|Australopithecines]] had a small hyperglossal canal, about the same size as in modern [[chimpanzee|chimpanzees]]; but in ''[[Homo heidelbergensis]]'' and [[Neanderthals]] the canal was twice as large, similar to modern [[human|humans]].
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