Los Angeles ? Neanderthals probably had the gift of gab, according to a study examining a key language gene in the extinct species.

Until now, humans were thought to have a unique version of FOXP2, the only gene shown to play a role in language. People who are missing a copy have difficulty with speaking and language comprehension.

The version of the gene in chimpanzees – our closest living relatives – is different from that of humans in two places. But two Neanderthals who died 43,000 years ago had the same kind of FOXP2 as people alive today, researchers reported Friday in Current Biology.