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A new hypothesis: Were Neanderthals susceptible to high rates of otitis media?
Author(s) -
Pagano Anthony,
Bluestone Charles,
Marquez Samuel,
Laitman Jeffrey
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.29.1_supplement.701.2
Subject(s) - crania , neanderthal , pleistocene , otitis , geography , biology , archaeology , genetics
Otitis media (OM) is among the most common pediatric clinical conditions worldwide but few have considered the importance of the cartilaginous Eustachian tube (CET) and OM over human evolution. This study is the first to attempt reconstruction of CET morphology among Neanderthals and mid‐Pleistocene hominins (mPh). Neanderthals were represented by Gibraltar Forbes' Quarry 1, Monte Circeo 1, and Saccopastore 1 crania. Mid‐Pleistocene Homo was represented by Kabwe 1, Petralona 1, Steinheim 1, and Atapuerca 5 crania. These were analyzed alongside a geographically diverse human growth series spanning from newborns (n=28) to adults (n=185). Measurement was done via a microscribe digitizer and CET dimensions were calculated among three‐dimensional landmark coordinates spanning the osseous CET orifice to points along the medial pterygoid plate. All coordinate data were scaled over centroid size, allowing direct comparison of interlandmark distances. Results indicated that Neanderthals possessed longer CET's ( P <0.05) than adult modern humans and mPh and that their choanae are obtusely oriented, resembling human infants. This suggests that anatomical conditions promoting OM among modern human infants and young children likely persisted over longer spans of Neanderthal development, increasing morbidity and impacting their ability to compete with sympatric modern humans.