A new genetic analysis found that the size of Neanderthal noses was passed down to modern humans.
Neanderthals were equipped with tall noses that could warm and moisten the cold and dry air around them in chilly climates — an adaptation that may be the result of natural selection.
Scientists made the discovery after analyzing DNA taken from more than 6,000 volunteers recruited from Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Peru who had Latin American, mixed European, Native American or African heritage, and compared their genetic information to photographs of their faces, according to a study published May 8 in the journal Communications Biology .
The researchers successfully identified 33 new genome regions that corresponded with facial features. One in particular, ATF3, not only had Neanderthal origins but also defined nose height. They found that study participants with Native American ancestry"had genetic material in this gene that was inherited from the Neanderthals, contributing to increased nasal height," according to the statement.
"It has long been speculated that the shape of our noses is determined by natural selection; as our noses can help us to regulate the temperature and humidity of the air we breathe in, different shaped noses may be better suited to different climates that our ancestors lived in," lead author Qing Li , a faculty member in the Department of Environmental Science and Engineering at Fudan University in Shanghai, said in the statement.
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