Question: Why can't animals speak

Pete Etchells answered on 25 Apr 2012:

Great question! One reason why most animals can’t speak is because they don’t have the right sort of vocal chords and mouth muscles to make the right sorts of sounds. Perhaps more importantly though, they don’t have the right sort of brain areas that control language – the human brain is hugely complex, and contains lots of specialised areas for things that other animals can’t do (even things like recognising yourself in the mirror!).

However, some animals, like apes, can manage very basic forms of sign language. Some scientists have spent their entire lives teaching them how to say things using their hands, which is really cool!