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Vol. 93, pp. 10852-10854, October 1996
Evolution
Communicated by Elwyn L. Simons, Duke University Primate Center, Durham, NC, May 1, 1996 (received for review March 14, 1996)
ABSTRACT For many years, the Neanderthals have been also clearly visible in published photographs of other Nean-
recognized as a distinctive extinct hominid group that occu- derthals (e.g., Shanidar 1; see Figure 76 in ref. 4).
pied Europe and western Asia between about 200,000 and Although the conchal crest of extant mammals (5, 6),
30,000 years ago. It is still debated, however, whether these including Homo sapiens (ref. 6; Fig. 2b), occurs in the same
hominids belong in their own species, Homo neanderthalensis, general area within the nasal cavity as the medial prominence
or represent an extinct variant of Homo sapiens. Our ongoing does in these Neanderthals, it arises farther back and is
studies indicate that the Neanderthals differ from modern horizontal rather than vertical in orientation. It also differs
humans in their skeletal anatomy in more ways than have been morphologically from the raised and bulky Neanderthal medial
recognized up to now. The purpose of this contribution is to eminence in being low and relatively poorly defined. The
describe specializations of the Neanderthal internal nasal human conchal crest is the anterior line of contact with the
region that make them unique not only among hominids but nasal wall of the paper-thin inferior nasal concha, which arises
possibly among terrestrial mammals in general as well. These from its own center of ossification (7). The inferior concha also
features lend additional weight to the suggestion that Nean- contacts the thin sheet of bone that covers the lacrimal groove
derthals are specifically distinct from Homo sapiens. in modern humans. Given the unique conformation of both of
these areas in Neanderthals, it is evident that the inferior nasal
Over the past century and a half, paleoanthropologists have concha of these extinct hominids must have differed funda-
come to recognize the Neanderthals as a highly distinctive mentally in structure from that of modem humans (and of
extinct hominid group that inhabited a wide swath of Europe primates in general; ref 6)-if, indeed, one was present at all,
and western Asia (east from the Atlantic to Uzbekistan, and which is not demonstrable with the current evidence. Among
south from Wales to Gibraltar and the Levant) in the period the other fossil hominids in our sample (Table 1), only the
from about 200,000 to 30,000 years ago (1). Nonetheless, Steinheim cranium, taxonomically equivocal but often viewed
possibly because of their large brain volumes, paleoanthro- as a Neanderthal precursor (8), shows any sign of a medial
pologists have in recent years been reluctant to recognize the projection. In this fossil, the structure is, however, less bulky
Neanderthals as a distinct species of the genus Homo (e.g., ref. and less intrusive into the cavity than in the Neanderthals. Like
2). Our recent studies of Neanderthal crania have, however, Homo sapiens, other non-Neanderthal middle Pleistocene
hominids we have examined (e.g., Kabwe; ref. 9) retain the
indicated that these hominids are autapomorphic (uniquely conchal crest, which we take to be the primitive configuration.
derived) in several respects that have previously gone unre- This also appears to be the case for the 300,000-year-old Sima
marked, and our purpose here is to draw attention to some de los Huesos (Atapuerca) cranium 4, which was recently
characteristics of the Neanderthal nasal region that not only figured by Arsuaga et al. (ref 10; Fig. 1) and suggested by them
distinguish these extinct human relatives from Homo sapiens, to belong to a potentially proto-Neanderthal group. Further,
but also make them unique among hominids-and pri- our review of the literature has revealed no mention of the
mates-in general. specialized "Neanderthal-like" medial projection either in the
These previously undescribed features are particularly well Steinheim cranium or anywhere else among hominids.
illustrated in the Gibraltar 1 (Forbes' Quarry) skull, the first The "internal nasal margin," with its remarkable medial
adult Neanderthal to be discovered (ref. 3; Fig. 1). Most projection, does not, however, appear to be the only peculiarity
striking is the presence of a rim of raised bone that projects of the Neanderthal nasal region. In the Gibraltar 1 specimen
from either side of the rim of the anterior nasal aperture just (Fig. 1), the enlarged posterior portion of the nasal cavity
within its anterior edge, forming a secondary "internal mar- shows evidence of another unusual structure: a distinct swell-
gin." This rim runs one-third to halfway up the inner nasal wall ing of the lateral nasal wall. From surface breaks, as well as
on both sides and then expands to become a wide, broad-based from comparisons with the Spy 1 specimen (Fig. 2a), it appears
and bluntly pointed mass that protrudes medially into the nasal that this swelling houses a medially expanded maxillary sinus.
cavity. This medial projection fades superiorly into a low ridge This area is not preserved in any other specimens we have
that continues to frame the nasal cavity within its external examined, but this observation suggests that the Neanderthals
margin. On its posterior side, the horizontal inferior margin of were specialized in the posterior as well as the anterior nasal
the rim may be rounded, and the vertical portion is bounded region relative to other terrestrial mammals (5, 6), including
by an open lacrimal groove (Fig. 2a). Varying only in relative Homo sapiens (ref. 11; Fig. 2b). In the more general (and
size, the vertical medial projection is present (if usually dam- almost certainly primitive) configuration exemplified by the
aged) in all the adult Neanderthal specimens we have exam- latter, there is no medial swelling of the posterolateral wall of
ined in which this region is preserved (i. e., Gibraltar 1, Spy 1, the nasal cavity. The nasal cavity of extant terrestrial mammals
La Ferrassie 1, La Chapelle-aux-Saints, and St-Cesaire) and is is normally filled to varying degrees (5) with two, three, or even
The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge tTo whom reprint requests should be addressed at: Department of
payment. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park
accordance with 18 U.S.C. §1734 solely to indicate this fact. West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024. e-mail: iant@amnh.org.
10852
Evolution: Schwartz and Tattersall Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 93 (1996) 10853