LAUSR

Linguistics Different parts of the world vary in the number of languages they contain. Prior research has suggested that climate plays a major role in this variability. When social groups live in areas with high seasonality and unpredictable rainfall, they are more likely to develop a shared language with other communities across larger land areas to mitigate ecological risks. Hua et al. draw on a global dataset of 6425 languages to confirm the climate variability hypothesis against competing hypotheses related to landscape features and biodiversity, while statistically controlling for spatial and phylogenetic factors. These results provide insight into how stable climates support small social group living and how more-variable climates support the formation of larger coalitions. Nat. Commun. 10 , 2047 (2019).