- Project title
- The Interactive Influence of Climate and Energetics on Human Nasal Morphology
- Description of the project
- e proposed study will examine the combined effects (and possible physiological trade-offs) of demands for respiratory air conditioning and oxygen intake on the nasal complex during human evolution. This will be accomplished by collecting 3D coordinate landmark data on cranial Micro CT scans and linear measurements from associated postcranial elements. The postcranial measurements have already been gathered as of August 2021. The specimens from the MDH will be combined with samples from a variety of repositories to comprise a geographically and temporally diverse sample. Using established equations, body mass and basal metabolic rate will then be calculated from postcranial measurements, and employed in conjunction with climatic variables to assess their potential physiological and evolutionary influences on geographic/temporal variation in nasal size and shape. This research has the following specific aims: 1) Determine the degree to which metabolic demand effects nasal morphology within human populations from circumscribed geographic locales (i.e., controlling for climate). 2) Quantify the relationships between climate, metabolic demand, and ecogeographic-patterned variation in recent human nasal morphology.
Works done by the platform AST-RX