A digital analysis of the only intact Neanderthal inner nose bones ever recorded suggests the species’ famously large noses did not evolve primarily to warm and humidify cold, dry air, researchers reported Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Scientists used endoscopic probes and 3D photogrammetry to create detailed models of the nasal cavity inside the so-called Altamura Man, a nearly complete Neanderthal skeleton found in a cave near Altamura in southern Italy in 1993. The specimen, encased in calcite and left in place to avoid damage, dates to roughly 130,000 to 172,000 years ago.
Because the delicate ethmoid, vomer, and inferior nasal conchae bones are missing or broken in other Neanderthal skulls, the Altamura specimen offered an unprecedented opportunity to study internal nasal anatomy directly. The new images and models show inner nasal structures that are “neither unique nor substantially different from those of modern humans,” the study’s lead author, Costantino Buzi of the University of Perugia, told online outlet Live Science.
The new finding contradicts a long-standing hypothesis on Neanderthal nose bones
That finding runs counter to a long-standing hypothesis that Neanderthals developed enlarged noses mainly as an adaptation to cold climates, where broader nasal passages would warm and moisten frigid air before it reached the lungs. Earlier studies had to rely on approximations because those fragile bones rarely survive in the fossil record.
Todd Rae, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Sussex who was not involved in the research, told Live Science the study is important because it shows two of the three previously proposed unique features of the Neanderthal nasal cavity do not appear in Altamura Man. “The lack of unique traits … shows that there is variation in the species that was not previously known,” he said.
Researchers caution that the result does not mean climate played no role in Neanderthal facial evolution. Buzi noted that other parts of the Altamura skeleton, including a stockier build and shorter limbs, do appear adapted to cold. But the new data indicate the nasal anatomy alone may not be the smoking gun for cold-climate adaptation.
Scientists suggest broader Noses could also be functional for conditioning air
“All earlier species of Homo have wide noses,” Rae said. “Most Homo sapiens have a wide nose; only northern European/Arctic people don’t, a vanishingly small proportion of the species.”
He and Buzi suggested a broader view, wide noses may have been functional for conditioning air for large, powerful bodies rather than a direct response to icy environments.
The authors and outside experts agreed that more specimens with preserved internal nasal bones are needed to test how representative Altamura Man is of Neanderthals generally. For now, the study adds a rare and detailed piece to a still-incomplete puzzle about how our ancient cousins adapted to Ice Age Europe.
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