Create a list of articles to read later. You will be able to access your list from any article in Discover.
You don't have any saved articles.
How the Neanderthals got their big noses
New research on a Museum fossil helps explain why Neanderthal faces look different to our own.
Human origins expert Prof Chris Stringer introduces the work in this short clip.
Neanderthals are one of our closest ancient human relatives, but their faces differed from our own in a few characteristic ways.
As well as a heavy brow ridge and large front teeth, the middle of their face protruded and they had a large, broad nose. In comparison, our own faces are much flatter.
The research used fossil remains of a young Neanderthal child, which were found in 1926 at a place in Gibraltar called Devil's Tower, to study how Neanderthal faces grow.
Read the news for more details about the study and what it revealed.
See the fossil
The Devil's Tower Neanderthal fossil is on display alongside other key specimens in the Museum's new Human Evolution gallery.
