Scientists from Pennsylvania State University have found that the shape of the nose in various human populations is a result of the influence of climatic conditions. The researchers' article was published in the journal PLOS Genetics.
Experts analyzed the size and shape of the nose of people living in West Africa, South Asia and Northern Europe. They found that the difference in these rates among the populations studied was too large to be explained by chance. In addition, wide nostrils were characteristic of those people whose ancestors lived in hot conditions with a high content of water vapor in the air.
However, the researchers suggest that additional factors, such as cultural preferences in mate selection, also played a role in the shaping of the nose. In addition, genetic drift is also important - a phenomenon in which the occurrence of alleles of one or several genes randomly changes.
In the future, scientists want to find out whether the shape of the nose and the size of the nasal cavity affect the risk of infection with respiratory pathogens when a person is for a long time in conditions that differ from those in which his ancestors lived.