Have you ever noticed that men's noses are bigger than women's? A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Iowa says that the different builds and energy demands of the two sexes are the reasons behind the difference in nose size.
As part of the study, the researchers, led by Nathan Holton, assistant professor in the UI College of Dentistry, tracked nose size and growth of 38 individuals of European descent from three years of age until the mid-twenties.
The external and internal measurements taken at regular intervals for each individual showed that from birth until the age of 11, boys and girls have the same nose size. But beginning at puberty, male noses grow disproportionately larger than female noses. The study found that men's noses are about 10 percent larger than female noses, on average, in populations of European descent.
During puberty, males begin to grow more lean muscle mass, while females grow more fat mass. More lean muscle mass means more oxygen is required for muscle tissue growth and maintenance.
Therefore, in order to breathe in more oxygen, males have larger noses. And this is also the reason why we (modern humans) have smaller noses than those of our ancestors, such as the Neanderthals who had more muscle mass, say the researchers.
The findings are published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
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