Why Do Humans Snore? An Evolutionary Biologist Explains What’s Happening To Your Airway

Humans snore because sleep relaxes pharyngeal muscles, narrowing the upper airway and making airflow turbulent.

The vibrating soft palate, uvula, and nearby tissues create the familiar snoring sound.

The article links this to human evolution: airway changes that helped produce speech also made the throat more collapse-prone.

Snoring is presented as a common sign of upper-airway narrowing and part of the broader spectrum of sleep-disordered breathing.