Examining the upper respiratory tract of Neanderthals and other later Pleistocene human fossils: analysis of form and function (17.6)

Abstract

Neanderthals are one of the most intensely studied groups of extinct humans, as aspects of their phylogeny and functional morphology remain controversial. They have long been described as cold adapted but recent analyses of their nasal anatomy suggest that traits formerly considered adaptations may be the result of genetic drift. Here we describe our previous and current studies on the nasal complex (NC; nose, nasal cavity, nasopharynx, connecting pathways) of Neanderthals and other later Pleistocene fossils from Europe and Africa. A geographically diverse sample of modern human crania was used to establish an anatomical baseline for populations inhabiting cold and tropical climates. Nasal complex morphology was analyzed via traditional and geometric morphometrics and CT imaging. Results indicate that Neanderthals possessed NC's that fall outside the range of modern human variation in several traits, including paranasal sinus morphology. In particular, they exhibited greater relative piriform aperture area (the product of width and height) and a relatively longer cartilaginous Eustachian tube as measured from Procrustes‐corrected sets of three‐dimensional coordinate data. The NC components of the upper respiratory tract remain a critical but poorly understood area that may yet offer novel insight into one of the greatest continuing controversies in paleoanthropology.Grant Funding Source: Supported by NSF and IGERT