A detailed analysis of a well-preserved Neanderthal nasal cavity has revealed that their large noses were not shaped by cold-climate adaptations as previously thought. The findings from the Altamura Man specimen challenge long-held ideas about Neanderthal evolution. Researchers used advanced imaging to examine internal structures inside the skull.
Neanderthals, or Homo neanderthalensis, lived between about 400,000 and 40,000 years ago. Many researchers had proposed that distinct structures in their nasal cavities helped them adapt to repeated glacial conditions by warming inhaled air in their large noses. However, evidence from damaged fossils had left the complete picture unclear.
Now, Costantino Buzi at the University of Perugia in Italy and his colleagues have analyzed the nasal cavity of Altamura Man, a Neanderthal specimen dated between 172,000 and 130,000 years old. Discovered in Lamalunga cave near Altamura in southern Italy, the skeleton is embedded in rock and covered with popcorn concretions—small nodules of calcite—giving it a coral-like appearance. “It’s probably the most complete human fossil ever discovered,” says Buzi.
Unable to remove the delicate specimen, the team navigated narrow cave passages with an endoscope to digitally reconstruct its internal nasal bony structures. “This surely is the first time we have clearly seen these structures in a human fossil,” says Buzi.
Surprisingly, the analysis found no evidence of key features previously considered defining for Neanderthals, such as a vertical medial projection ridge, swelling on the nasal cavity walls, or a lack of a bony roof over the lacrimal groove. Despite this, Altamura Man's general morphology, dating, and genetics confirm it as a Neanderthal. “We can finally say that some traits that were considered diagnostic in the Neanderthal cranium do not exist,” says Buzi.
The large nasal cavity appears linked to overall larger cranial structure rather than cold adaptation. The team noted that the turbinates—scroll-like structures on the nasal walls—are quite big, which would aid in warming air. “These results indicate that the typical Neanderthal facial shape was not driven by respiratory adaptation to cold, but rather by developmental factors and overall body proportions,” says Ludovic Slimak at the University of Toulouse in France.
The study aligns with September research by some of the same team, suggesting a unique neck adaptation under glacial pressures drove Neanderthal facial evolution, including their jutting jaw. “Everything in Neanderthals has been shoehorned into the idea that they’re adapted to cold, which is complete nonsense,” says Todd Rae at the University of Sussex, UK. Rae adds that Neanderthals may have struggled with cold, especially as modern humans from tropical origins thrived while Neanderthals went extinct by the last glacial maximum.
Published in PNAS (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2426309122), the findings provide direct evidence of Neanderthal breathing systems and reshape understandings of their anatomy.