Evolution of the human face points to a non-violent past

[Judi Lynn]

Scientists think the human facial structure may have changed because of diet and cooperative social structures

KEITH A. SPENCER
APRIL 15, 2019 11:00PM (UTC)

The human obsession with emoji, and the sheer number of them available on your phone, may have its origins in 6 million years of evolution. A new article in Nature Ecology & Evolution, titled “The evolutionary history of the human face,” suggests that the great array of human facial expressions may make us more unique among species than we’d thought previously. Moreover, the shape and lack of hair on our faces seems to have evolved very specifically so that humans could convey a range of expressions, setting us apart from other hominids and even most other animals on Earth.

That means the minute differences in emoji expressions — and your instant inability to recognize the emotions they represent — are the byproduct of 6 million years of evolution.

The review article, co-written by experts in the field from a number of different institutions and backgrounds including paleobiologists, paleoanthropologists and archaeologists, comments on the origins of the facial muscles and bones that enable such a range of expression. “Modern humans have a short, retracted face beneath a large globular braincase that is distinctively different from that of our closest living relatives,” the researchers write. How this happened relates to both diet and social structure.

Indeed, changes in the human diet changed the way that our teeth look. The use of fire was key: Food that has been cooked or baked in a fire is softer and less sinewy than uncooked meat or plant matter, meaning the human jaw became smaller and our internal teeth smaller. The face become flatter as a result, researchers say.

More:
https://www.salon.com/2019/04/15/evolution-of-the-human-face-points-to-a-non-violent-past/