Protruding Nose Allowed Neanderthals to Breathe More Air

Neanderthals had large, protruding noses to warm and humidify cold, dry air and to maximize the amount they could intake into their lungs, a study of the striking facial shape of the extinct human relative has shown.

Using three-dimensional models of the skulls of modern humans and Neanderthals, as well as Homo heidelbergensis, their common ancestor, scientists discovered interesting evolutionary adaptations of the respiratory pathways.

>>>Neanderthals from Vindija Did Not Engage in Incestuous Relationships

Computer simulations showed that the facial shapes of Neanderthals and humans adapted air more efficiently than that of Homo heidelbergensis, suggesting their better evolutionary adaptation to cold and dry climates, Australian and British scientists reported in an article in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Higher Energy Needs of the Stocky Neanderthal

Neanderthals, whose noses were about 30 percent larger than those of humans, could also intake much more air through their nasal cavity than Homo heidelbergensis and modern humans. This was likely an evolutionary response to the higher energy needs of the stocky bodies of Neanderthals and their hunter lifestyle.

It is believed that Neanderthals required about 4,500 calories a day to survive European winters. Modern men are recommended to consume 2,500 calories a day. A high caloric intake also requires more oxygen to process sugars, fats, and proteins into energy.

>>>Neanderthals in Vindija Did Not Associate with Modern Humans

Scientists have long debated why the facial shape of Neanderthals, with their large, broad noses and protruding lower jaws, is such. One theory was that the structure was necessary for a stronger bite. However, scientists have now proven that this is not the case. Computer simulations showed that Neanderthals did not have a stronger bite than modern humans.

– What Neanderthals really excelled at was their ability to transfer large volumes of air through the nasal cavity, indicating a lifestyle with very high energy needs, they wrote.

>>>Neanderthals Used Aspirin as a Solution for Toothache

They concluded that the “characteristic facial morphology of Neanderthals is conditioned by adaptation to cold and dry air and the need for higher oxygen intake.”

Neanderthals evolved around 200,000 years ago in Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East. They disappeared about 30,000 years ago, coinciding with the arrival of modern humans from Africa.