Ancient humans may have been better at breathing – BGR

It might be tempting to imagine our ancestors as simply sophisticated, but scientists know that there are some very big differences between humans and the earth.

A new study published in Nature Communications makes this point abundantly clear. Neanderthal, which has been developed some 60,000 years ago, but it seems to be that of the future, but it does not seem to be that way.

The study focused on one specific Neanderthal skeleton that has been well-known among archaeologists for decades. Using a CT scanner to build a virtual model of the bones and then reconstruct them, the team was able to determine what the body would look like when still alive.

Some major differences began to appear, including a much straighter spine thanks to the connection between the ribs and the vertebrae. The model also has a larger diaphragm that modern humans, and more room for the lungs to expand. Greater lung capacity may have been needed by the ancient peoples of the world.

With such a starkly different chest cavity it is thought that the man and his Neanderthal peers likely breathed differently than we do today, but actually determining the differences is something that will take time.

"We hypothesize that Neanderthals may have had a subtle, but somewhat different breathing mechanism compared to modern humans," the researchers said, adding that it was possible that Neanderthals had more efficient enlarging, emptying and filling their mouths. lungs faster than modern humans can.