cuz my papa had biiiig nnnnose
Posted on 01/14/2011 4:16:53 PM PST by decimon
A mystery of Neanderthals for more than a century is one that's literally as plain as the noses on their faces - why did they have such big schnozes?
One common answer suggests their faces somehow helped our extinct relatives deal with the extreme cold they faced. Now, however, scientists find that Neanderthal faces were not built for the cold - meaning that no one still knows why Neanderthals had such noses.
The enigma that such a large nose poses is that it seems like an excellent way to lose heat - a paradox, given that Neanderthals lived when glaciers dominated Europe. Modern humans and other animals, in contrast, typically have evolved significantly narrower, longer noses in cold climates. [The Many Mysteries of Neanderthals]
Scientists have tried solving this mystery by suggesting there were equally giant sinuses behind the broad noses. Some proposed the sinuses helped warm the air before it entered the lungs so Neanderthals were able to keep their bodies warm. Others speculated the sinuses actually had the exact opposite function, helping Neanderthals rid their bodies of heat, preventing them from drenching in sweat that could have cooled them off even more.
"The $64,000 question is what sinuses do - that is, what is their biological function. Scientists have been arguing over that for hundreds of years," researcher Todd Rae, a paleoanthropologist at Roehampton University in London, wrote in an e-mail. "There are dozens of suggestions for what they may do for the animals that have them, including adding resonance to the voice and acting as flotation devices!"
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
We have never seen drawings of their gawd-awful facial hairs.
Why did they not have facial hairs but Miller does?
Sorry folks, I couldn’t he’p my observation.
Cold air is dry air. Anyone with bad sinuses can tell you that vigorous heavy breathing in cold weather for extended periods will make your sinuses swell shut and get infected. It would be a horrible handicap in primitive times.
I often suffer with what the doctors call a “dry sinus infection” during winter months. Not enough moisture in the sinuses to deal with the dry winter air. The tissues dry out and swell up. A lack of mucus makes it impossible for the sinuses to flush out bacteria.
I would think an arctic specialized primitive humanoid that survives by physical effort alone would have robust sinuses to deal with this problem. The external portion of your nose is there to capture the moisture in your exhaled breath and absorb it back into your blood. Heavier breathing in colder climates would necessitate a more robust moisture reclamation system...ie bigger schnoz.
Since modern humans survive by their wits instead of their metabolism, a big schnoz could possibly be a liability in cold air since it is more flesh out in the cold requiring more calories to keep it from freezing off.
Just a theory I just now dreamt up.
jimmy durante?
Ref: #15
Thank you for the great, great laugh.
Barbra Streisand is a Neanderthal? Who knew?
1. Obvious: Excuse me. Is that your nose or did a bus park
on your face?
2. Meteorological: Everybody take cover. She’s going to
blow.
3. Fashionable: You know, you could de-emphasize your nose
if you wore something larger. Like ... Wyoming.
4. Personal: Well, here we are. Just the three of us.
5. Punctual: Alright gentlemen. Your nose was on time but
you were fifteen minutes late.
6. Envious: Ooooh, I wish I were you. Gosh. To be able to
smell your own ear.
7. Naughty: Pardon me, Sir. Some of the ladies have asked if
you wouldn’t mind putting that thing away.
8. Philosophical: You know. It’s not the size of a nose
that’s important. It’s what’s in it that matters.
9. Humorous: Laugh and the world laughs with you. Sneeze and
it’s goodbye Seattle.
10. Commercial: Hi, I’m Earl Schibe and I can paint that
nose for $39.95.
11. Polite: Ah. Would you mind not bobbing your head. The
orchestra keeps changing tempo.
12. Melodic: Everybody! “He’s got the whole world in his
nose.”
13. Sympathetic: Oh, What happened? Did your parents lose a
bet with God?
14. Complimentary: You must love the little birdies to give
them this to perch on.
15. Scientific: Say, does that thing there influence the
tides.
16. Obscure: Oh, I’d hate to see the grindstone.
17. Inquiry: When you stop to smell the flowers, are they
afraid?
18. French: Say, the pigs have refused to find any more
truffles until you leave.
19. Pornographic: Finally, a man who can satisfy two women
at once.
20. Religious: The Lord giveth and He just kept on giving,
didn’t He!
21. Disgusting: Say, who mows your nose hair.
22. Paranoid: Keep that guy away from my cocaine!
23. Aromatic: It must be wonderful to wake up in the morning
and smell the coffee ... in Brazil.
24. Appreciative: Oooo, how original. Most people just have
their teeth capped.
25. Dirty: Your name wouldn’t be Dick, would it?
GOOD NIGHT, Mrs. Calabash—wherever you are!
There seems to be an assumption that evolution is directed toward improvement. To the extent it happens it might be devolution, making something worse. Maybe a big nose was a failure. Where are the Neanderthal now?
Perhaps they lived at a time when it was warm, continental ice sheets came sliding down from the north, and they, and their noses, did not survive.
cuz my papa had biiiig nnnnose
ahhh...CHA CHA CHA
Or was that someone else that said that?
Too nosy for their own good?
Is that Jimmy Durante? I never realized his schnoz was that big.
You answer that and it will most likely help you answer the other question
That reminds me, I haven’t watched that in ages. Flawed, but funny.
The Neandertal EnigmaFrayer's own reading of the record reveals a number of overlooked traits that clearly and specifically link the Neandertals to the Cro-Magnons. One such trait is the shape of the opening of the nerve canal in the lower jaw, a spot where dentists often give a pain-blocking injection. In many Neandertal, the upper portion of the opening is covered by a broad bony ridge, a curious feature also carried by a significant number of Cro-Magnons. But none of the alleged 'ancestors of us all' fossils from Africa have it, and it is extremely rare in modern people outside Europe." [pp 126-127]
by James Shreeve
in local libraries
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I guess they had to wait for the invention of agriculture to discover the "farmer blow" - cover one nostril and blow hard through the other.
They were very old people. that’s why.
Noses keep growing as long as you’re alive. Same with your brow line. Jaws get bigger as well.
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