It's Thanks to Evolution That No Two Faces Are Alike
From bug eyes to aquiline noses, square jaws to chin dimples, no two faces are alike. That diversity may have evolved to make it easier to recognize other people, researchers reported on Tuesday.The shape and configuration of a human face are much more variable, compared with other body parts, the study found. What's more, genes that have been linked to face structure vary more than DNA in other regions of the body. This suggests that the forces of evolution have selected for facial diversity, perhaps to make individuals more recognizable to other people, the researchers say.
"An individual may actually benefit from having a unique face," says lead investigator Michael Sheehan, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. "It's like evolving a name tag."
There are many situations in which it might be evolutionarily costly to be confused with another person, Sheehan notes, such as if an enraged neighbor mistakes you for their enemy. "Or maybe you've done something fantastic and someone wants to give you a reward, but they give it to someone else instead," Sheehan notes. "Being cryptic could be harmful."
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