Not the best link, might look for a better one later.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264348725_Functional_morphology_of_the_Neandertal_nose

April 2005

Abstract

Neandertals have exceptionally broad nasal apertures. The Neandertal
nose has been referred to as "the prime architect of the Neandertal face"
(Coon 1962) - functional explanations for the size of Neandertal noses have
historically considered them to be specializations for a cold, arid
environment.
The adaptive nature of human nasal form is suggested by some studies of
modern skeletal samples documenting a positive correlation between nasal
indices and climate, but others have cautioned that these indices may not be
independent of non-adaptive variables affecting facial form and that in many
studies, these other variables have not been controlled for. Meyer et al.
(2003)
showed that in modern humans nasal breadth has a negligible relationship
with climatic variables, and is more highly correlated with bi-canine breadth
and especially palate breadth. Thus, the form of the nasal aperture is not
independent of adjacent structures, contra Hylander (1977) and Carey and
Steegman (1981), who argue that nasal form is subject to selection
independent
of the rest of the face. We evaluate the form of the nasal aperture in
relation to
non-nasal measurements of facial breadth in ten Middle Pleistocene and
Neandertal fossils and 460 modern human crania of known provenience to test
whether the nasal aperture is constrained by other aspects of facial
morphology.
Then, we examine the relationship between non-nasal measurements of facial
breadth and climate, using historical and ancient climatic data collected
for each
cranium's locality, to test the hypothesis that only the nasal capsule
responds to
selection related to climate. Our results indicate that nasal morphology
is subject
to functional constraints that affect other parts of the face, and that
Neandertal
nasal morphology may have a stronger association with masticatory or
paramasticatory functions than with climate.

"... as climate fails to associate with nasal breadth in this study,
while a significant correlation was found between Neandertal nasal breadth
and hard palate breadth.
This relationship accounted for almost half of the observed variation
(R2=.48, P<.04)
(fig. 6). "

"... our results are in accord with Franciscus’ (2003) rejection of
cold-climate
adaptation as an explanation for internal features of the Neandertal nasal
capsule,
and support Coon’s (1962) assertion that Neandertal nasal breadth cannot be
explained simply as an adaptation to cold climate due to the functional
primacy of
their anterior dentition. "

Op zaterdag 19 juni 2021 om 06:21:36 UTC+2 schreef Primum Sapienti:

> Not the best link, might look for a better one later.
> https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264348725_Functional_morphology_of_the_Neandertal_nose
> April 2005 Abstract
....
> and support Coon’s (1962) assertion that Neandertal nasal breadth cannot be
> explained simply as an adaptation to cold climate due to the functional
> primacy of their anterior dentition. "

As so often, Coon is correct here:

Oi, big nose !
NS 2782:69, 2010 Lastword

Why do humans evolve external noses that don’t seem to serve any useful purpose – our smelling sensors are inside the head. Our nose is vulnerable to damage, and the majority of primates and other mammals manage with relatively flat faces. Traditional explanations are that the nose protects against dry air, hot air, cold air, dusty air, whatever air, but most savannah mammals have no external noses, and polar animals such as arctic foxes or hares tend to evolve shorter extremities including flatter noses (Allen’s Rule), not larger as the Neanderthal protruding nose.

The answer isn’t so difficult if we simply consider humans like other mammals.

An external nose is seen in elephant seals, hooded seals, tapirs, elephants, swine and, among primates, in the mangrove-dwelling proboscis monkeys. Various, often mutually compatible functions, have been proposed, such as sexual display (in male hooded and elephant seals or proboscis monkeys), manipulation of food (in elephants, tapirs and swine), a snorkel (elephants, proboscis monkeys) and as a nose-closing aid during diving (in most of these animals). These mammals spend a lot of time at the margins of land and water.. Possible functions of an external nose in creatures evolving into aquatic ones are obvious and match those listed above in many cases. They can initially act as a nose closure, a snorkel, to keep water out, to dig in wet soil for food, and so on. Afterwards, these external noses can also become co-opted for other functions, such as sexual display (visual as well as auditory) in hooded and elephant seals and proboscis monkeys.

But what does this have to do with human evolution?

The earliest known Homo fossils outside Africa – such as those at Mojokerto in Java and Dmanisi in Georgia – are about 1.8 million years old. The easiest way for them to have spread to other continents, and to islands such as Java, is along the coasts, and from there inland along rivers. During the glacial periods of the Pleistocene – the ice age cycles that ran from about 1.8 million to 12,000 years ago – most coasts were about 100 metres below the present-day sea level, so we don’t know whether or when Homo populations lived there. But coasts and riversides are full of shellfish and other foods that are easily collected and digested by smart, handy and tool-using “apes”, and are rich in potential brain-boosting nutrients such as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

If Pleistocene Homo spread along the coasts, beachcombing, wading and diving for seafoods as Polynesian islanders still do, this could explain why Homo erectus evolved larger brains (aided by DHA) and larger noses (because of their part-time diving). This littoral intermezzo could help to explain not only why we like to have our holidays at tropical beaches, eating shrimps and coconuts, but also why we became fat and furless bipeds with long legs, large brains and big noses.