STUDY ON THE
APPEARANCE OF AQUILINE
NOSES IN THE POPULATION
OF COVENANT UNIVERSITY
A PROJECT BY APPLIED BIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY: GROUP 2
• OKAFOR PRAISE
• IWUOHA JASON
• OGUNDIPE IYANOLUWA
• ADEKANLE ADEDAMOLA DANIEL
• OGBUAGU FAVOUR
• AGU EBUMNOBICHUKWU
MENDELIAN INHERITANCE
Mendelian inheritance refers to the inheritance of traits controlled by a single gene with
two alleles, one of which may be dominant to the other. How Mendelian traits are inherited
depends on whether the traits are controlled by genes on autosomes or the X chromosome.
There are only a few examples of this in humans.
AQUILINE NOSES: A BRIEF OVERVIEW
Aquiline noses, more commonly referred to as “Roman noses”, is a physical trait that gives
one a nose with a more pronounced bridge. The bridge of the nose being more prominent
gives the nose a more “hooked” or “curved” nature. Although believed to be ethnically
specific, the appearance of an aquiline nose is believed to not be tied to certain ethnical
groups and more towards groups that have a larger ethnic diversity. Although rarely seen in
Sub-Saharan Africans, the appearance of Aquiline noses has been shown to be seen in
various parts of Africa, including countries south of the Sub-Sahara. However, some
mutations have been found cause malformation in skull and face structure which could also
affect nose conformation
MATERIALS AND METHODS
• A total of 226 people in covenant university were surveyed for this study; students from
different levels and staff both academic and non-academic were involved in the study.
While standing upright or sitting with the side view the shape of their noses were
observed and recorded. Data was collected on a sample of 135 males and 91 females,
they were informed on the reason for carrying out the study and why we would need to
collect a few of their details although we had no ethical consent. The group has pictures
of the type of trait being studied in order to properly identify the aquiline nose in the
population being used for study.
DATA ANALYSIS
Percentage of males and females with Roman Percentage of males and females without
nose Roman nose
Level N,%males N,%females Level N,%male N,%female
100 10 , 29.4 4 , 11.8 100 10 , 29.8 10 , 29.8
200 8 , 23.5 4 , 11.8 200 15 , 44.1 7 , 20.6
300 11 , 19.6 6 , 10.7 300 18 , 32.1 21 , 37.5
400 9 , 17.6 2 , 3.9 400 20 , 39.2 20 , 39.2
500 9 , 34.6 1 , 3.8 500 9 , 34.6 7 , 26.9
PG students 1,9 2 , 18.2 PG students 3 , 27.3 5 , 45.5
Academic and 6 , 42.9 1, 7.1 Academic and 6 , 42.9 1 , 7.1
non-academic non-academic
staff students
Expression of Genetic Trait Amongst Covenant University Population
Expressed Gene Unexpressed Gene
39 40
20 22
17 16
14 12 11 10 8 7 7
3
RESULTS AND OBSERVATION
• As seen in the data above, We can say that the percentage of males with aquiline nose is
greater than that of females but not with a significant difference. It can be concluded that
in the population this genetic trait can not be widely observed. 16.4% of males in the
popultion studied have the aquiline nose while 8.8% of females have the aquiline nose.
On the other hand 43.4% of males do not have the trait and 31.4 % of females also don’t
carry this trait. This analysis supports the statement made above.
CHALLENGES FACED
Some challenges faced included:
• Some of the students and staff were a bit reluctant to give their details to us for use even
after the purpose was explained
• In some individuals the aquiline nose was not easily identified, some had clear bridges
while others had slight bridges.
• Some people asked a lot of questions and were concerned about what the dominant or
recessive traits of the gene present depicted anything in particular
