In some ill-considered popularizations of interesting current research, it is argued that higher apes have the capacity for language but have never put it to use -- a remarkable biological miracle, given the enormous selectional advantage of even minimal linguistic skills
It is rather like claiming that some animal has wings adequate for flight but has never thought to fly
Claiming that some people raised tobacco but did not smoke it is rather like claiming that a society that knew how to brew alcohol never drank it.