Millions of years of fist fights have altered the human face to leave men's jaws more robust than women's, a study has found. Evidence suggests it evolved to minimise damage from bruising altercations after our ancient ancestors learned how to throw a punch.
Researchers studied the bone structure of australopiths, ape-like bipeds living four to five million years ago that pre-dated the modern human primate family Homo. They found that australopith faces and jaws were strongest in just those areas most likely to receive a blow from a fist. It is a legacy that continues to this day, helping to explain why men's faces are more robust than women's, say the scientists.
The study, published in the journal Biological Reviews, builds on previous work indicating that violence played a greater role in human evolution than many experts would like to admit.
In recent years, biologist Dr Carrier has investigated the short legs of great apes, the bipedal posture of humans, and the hand proportions of ''hominins'', or early human species. He argues that these traits evolved, to a large extent, around the need to fight.
Co-author Dr Michael Morgan, a University of Utah physician, said: ''I think our science is sound and fills some long-standing gaps in the existing theories of why the musculoskeletal structures of our faces developed the way they did.
''Our research is about peace. We seek to explore, understand, and confront humankind's violent and aggressive tendencies. Peace begins with ourselves and is ultimately achieved through disciplined self-analysis and an understanding of where we've come from as a species. Through our research, we hope to look ourselves in the mirror and begin the difficult work of changing ourselves for the better.'' |
Behold the Gollum future.