It is a known fact that the Homo sapiens species, including today’s humans, encountered Neanderthals known to have lived between 100,000 and 200 thousand years ago, and that some of them were together. It was even revealed that the Neanderthals’ sexual relations with homo sapiens may have brought about the end.
So, what remains of Neanderthals today, with the combination of the two species? A new study has offered yet another answer to this question. It has been revealed that the big noses that some people have may be based on the DNA of Neanderthals.
The size of our nose may be due to a gene passed down from Neanderthals to humans:
Scientists have examined the DNA of more than 6,000 people in Latin America. Then, he compared the facial features of the people with this genetic information. In the comparison, 33 genome regions that determine the facial features of people were noted.
Of these 33 sites, 26 also appeared to be parallel in other peoples in Europe, Africa, and Asia. In other words, the regions of the genome that define the facial features of people almost all over the world were repeating each other.
Our connection with Neanderthals was seen in one area in particular:
When scientists focused on the region called “1q32.3”, they found traces of Neanderthals. This genome region was the one that passed from Neanderthals to homo sapiens and determined the height of the nose (Z-axis).
So why did Neanderthals have a big nose? The answer to this question was given by the gene known as ATF3, located in the same region. It was revealed that the gene evolved due to natural selection, causing Neanderthals to have a large nose to enable them to survive in particularly cold conditions.
The function of the gene carried to Homo sapiens was actually the same in us. Gen aimed to help people adapt and survive the cold conditions of that time.
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