Re: AAH
Phil Nicholls (pn8886@csc.albany.edu)
8 Dec 1994 01:46:55 GMT
In article <3c0p2u$bq4@newsbf01.news.aol.com>,
Pat Dooley <patdooley@aol.com> wrote:
>But then again, we do the next best thing, which is to ensure that the the
>nostrils
>are in the optimal position to avoid water being forced into the breathing
>passages
>by swimming or diving. When you jump into water, you hold your nose. When
>you dive, you have no need to to hold your nose. A gorilla or chimpanzee
>is in a less enviable position when it comes to water sports. Their
>nostrils point the wrong way and they hardly have a nose to hold.
>
>In the AAH debate, it pays to keep our closest relatives in mind. After
>all, we are
>more closely related to them than horses are to zebras, or even one zebra
>species to another.
>
>Pat D belatedly returning to this debate
As I have repeatedly pointed out in these seemingly endless debates,
the shape of the human nose differs from gorillas or chimpanzees
because we have flat faces. This means that our nasal bones which
form the bridge of the nose project outward, in line with or sometimes
beyond the projection of our upper and lower jaws.
Australopithecines hand flat noses, more like those of chimpanzees
and gorillas.
--
Philip "Chris" Nicholls Department of Anthropology
Institute for Hydrohominoid Studies SUNY Albany
University of Ediacara pn8886@cnsunix.albany.edu
"Semper Alouatta"
|