Neanderthals gave us the shape of our… nose

Neanderthal man, who disappeared 30,000 years ago, lived several thousand years at the same time as Homo sapiens, in Europe. Physically, the Neanderthal man was rather small – around 1.60 m – and stocky, with the jaw forward and the forehead that goes back, while Homo sapiens was 1.80 m tall with a straight face, and a well defined forehead and chin.

>> Homo sapiens arrived in Europe much earlier than reported so far

The two species therefore rubbed shoulders and mated, which means that Neanderthal man transmitted part of his genetic heritage to us and in particular the shape of his nose, a longer, wider and more protruding nose than in Homo sapiens. around the same time, say researchers at University College London.

A long, high nose

These researchers were able to demonstrate this through photos and genetic data from more than 6,000 volunteers across Latin America. Volunteers of European, Native American and African descent. The researchers compared the genetic information of these 6,000 participants to their portrait to see how their facial features could be associated with certain genetic markers. They found that some people who had genetic material inherited from Neanderthals had long, high noses instead.

They also found that this region of the gene showed signs of natural selection. Which means that this nose shape has been an advantage for the human species at some point in its evolution.

The nose: a thermal regulator

One of the authors of this study points out that our nose can help us regulate the temperature and humidity of the air we breathe because it filters it and warms this air. For this researcher, the gene for the long, wide and more protruding nose of Neanderthals may at one time have helped Homo sapiens who came from Africa to adapt to the colder climates of Europe.

Overall, studies show that current non-African populations have inherited 2% to 4% of the Neanderthal genome.