ELi5: Why do humans have raised noses instead of flat ones?
In: Biology
It’s still not entirely agreed upon from what I remember of undergrad bio but there are several good theories that all have some truth to them, I’ll summarize it all like this:
Since humans walk upright and use our endurance to hunt rather than ambushing and scent-tracking, we had a choice evolution-wise. Either we:
1) Keep a flat nose with a better structure to help smell and pursue scent-based hunting/gathering, or
2) Develop a larger, protruding nose and use the surface area for hairs that will clean and regulate air better than our mouths.
Turns out that overtime, those with a raised nose large enough to get optimal surface area did better than those with a small, flat nose that is better for scent. This is probably because when running and breathing rapidly, the nose cleans the air without drying the trachea unlike mouth-breathing would.
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