At the base of your tongue lies one of the more enigmatic structures in the human body, the hyoid bone. This horseshoe-shaped bone is the only one not directly connected to another. Located deep in the throat, it's beyond the casual touch, also unlike almost every other bone.

The hyoid bone is connected to other bones indirectly through ligaments, the tough tissue that links bone to bone. The ligaments suspend the hyoid bone from the styloid processes, lower parts of the skull that extend to just below the ear.

Functionally, the hyoid bone helps produce speech. It's located in the larynx, or voice box, and supports the muscles involved in human speech. As such, it's useful when found in fossils of human ancestors or their relatives to determine if the creature was capable of speech.

In September, a hyoid bone was found in a 3.3 million-year-old skeleton of a young female Australopithecus afarensis, the same species as the famous "Lucy" fossil. It was the first time a hyoid had been found that long ago in the pre-human fossil record. It was found to be more structurally similar to that of existing apes than humans, implying that the creature could not talk.

The hyoid is also important in modern detective work: A broken hyoid found in a person dead of unknown causes strongly indicates the person was strangled. Because the hyoid is located so deeply in the neck, it's protected from most injuries except when a strong crushing force is applied.

Hyoid fractures can be caused by less sinister means. Professional wrestler Lance Storm broke his hyoid bone Dec. 3, when opponent Christian Cage accidentally struck him in the neck.

Several days later, Storm wrote on his Web page: "My throat hurt a lot after the match and swallowing and eating was extremely painful. My voice became very scratchy and I could barely talk the day after the match."

He began to feel better in a few days, until he coughed and had a sharp pain in his throat: "My doctor sent me for throat X-rays. and then surprised the hell out of me by phoning me at home less than an hour later with news that I have a broken bone in my throat."

That was how Storm learned of the existence of the hyoid bone. Rather disconcertingly, Storm's doctor told him that this extremely rare fracture has a chance of serious complications due to the bone dislodging, possibly tearing the throat. However, by the time he was examined, Storm was past the 24-to-72-hour danger period for such complications.

A couple of weeks later, Storm wrote, at http://www.stormwrestling.com/122106.html, that he was gradually recovering.

Contact staff writer Bradley J. Fikes at (760) 739-6641 or bfikes@nctimes.com.