Overview
- Using endoscopic cameras inside the immovable fossil in Italy’s Lamalunga Cave, researchers produced the first well-preserved nasal cavity reconstruction in the human fossil record.
- The Altamura specimen lacks the hypothesized Neanderthal-specific internal features, including a vertical medial projection, wall swelling, and the missing bony roof over the lacrimal groove.
- The inner nasal morphology closely matches that of modern humans, leading the authors to reject those traits as species-defining.
- Large turbinates indicate efficient heat and water recovery from exhaled air, even as the face’s projection likely reflects growth patterns and body proportions rather than airway conditioning.
- Experts note that conclusions rest on a single individual embedded in calcite dating to roughly 172,000–130,000 years ago, and they caution against broad cold-adaptation narratives.