Journal article
Neandertal nasal structures and upper respiratory tract “specialization”
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, Vol.96(4), pp.1805-1809
02/16/1999
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.96.4.1805
PMCID: PMC15602
PMID: 9990106
Abstract
Schwartz and Tattersall [Schwartz, J. H. & Tattersall, I. (1996) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 93, 10852–10854] have argued for a previously unrecognized suite of autapomorphies in the internal nasal region of Neandertals that make them unique, not only among hominids, but possibly among all other terrestrial mammals. These purported autapomorphies include (i) the development of an internal nasal margin bearing a well developed and vertically oriented medial projection; (ii) a pronounced medial swelling of the lateral nasal wall into the posterior nasal cavity; and (iii) the lack of an ossified roof over the lacrimal groove. In addition, Laitman et al. [Laitman, J. T., Reidenberg, J. S., Marquez, S. & Gannon, P. J. (1996) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 93, 10543–10545] pointed to these features as evidence for upper respiratory tract specializations among the Neandertals, indicating potential differences in behavior compared with modern humans. Critically reviewing the anatomical basis for Schwartz and Tattersall’s contentions reveals several serious problems with their analysis, including (i) reliance on specimens with damaged, incomplete, or, in some cases, entirely absent relevant anatomy; (ii) failure to consider primary vs. secondary spatial consequences in nasal trait conceptualization; and (iii) failure to consider actual ranges of variation in these traits in both fossil and recent humans. Accordingly, the unique phylogenetic and adaptive “specializations” attributed to Neandertal internal nasal structures are unwarranted.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Neandertal nasal structures and upper respiratory tract “specialization”
- Creators
- Robert G. Franciscus - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, Vol.96(4), pp.1805-1809
- DOI
- 10.1073/pnas.96.4.1805
- PMID
- 9990106
- PMCID
- PMC15602
- NLM abbreviation
- Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
- ISSN
- 0027-8424
- eISSN
- 1091-6490
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 02/16/1999
- Academic Unit
- Orthodontics; Anthropology
- Record Identifier
- 9984270196102771
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