生物谷報道：不知你是否留意到,，與原始人類相比，現(xiàn)代男人的下巴和臉頰更加明顯,。英國科學(xué)家的一項最新研究表明,，具有寬大下巴、醒目的臉頰以及寬大眉毛等面部特征的遠(yuǎn)古人類對異性更有吸引力,，這在人類面部進(jìn)化過程中起到了重要的作用,。相關(guān)論文在線發(fā)表于《公共科學(xué)圖書館·綜合》（PLoS ONE）上。
外表是許多動物選擇配偶的重要因素,，人類也不例外,。具有吸引異性面容的遠(yuǎn)古男性更容易獲得交配繁衍的機會，而他們的性狀也會逐漸遺傳下來,。通過研究人類祖先的化石,，英國自然歷史博物館（Natural History Museum）的科學(xué)家們發(fā)現(xiàn)，男性在進(jìn)化過程中,，眉毛和上嘴唇之間的距離逐漸縮短,，這一改變使他們的下巴慢慢增大，臉頰和眉毛也逐漸突顯出來。
此外,，研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn),，伴隨著上述過程，男性進(jìn)化出了更短卻更寬的臉型,。同時,，他們的犬齒變小，外表的威脅程度降低,，對異性的吸引力增加,。
英國自然歷史博物館的考古學(xué)家Eleanor Weston表示，“人類面部進(jìn)化是理解異性之間相互吸引的重要一環(huán),。”（科學(xué)網(wǎng)）
原始出處:
Received: November 29, 2006; Accepted: July 11, 2007; Published: August 8, 2007
Biometric Evidence that Sexual Selection Has Shaped the Hominin Face
Eleanor M. Weston1,2*¤, Adrian E. Friday2, Pietro Liò3
1 Department of Biology, University College London, London, United Kingdom, 2 University Museum of Zoology, Downing Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 3 Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge, William Gates Building, Cambridge, United Kingdom
We consider sex differences in human facial morphology in the context of developmental change. We show that at puberty, the height of the upper face, between the lip and the brow, develops differently in males and females, and that these differences are not explicable in terms of sex differences in body size. We find the same dimorphism in the faces of human ancestors. We propose that the relative shortening in men and lengthening in women of the anterior upper face at puberty is the mechanistic consequence of extreme maxillary rotation during ontogeny. A link between this developmental model and sexual dimorphism is made for the first time, and provides a new set of morphological criteria to sex human crania. This finding has important implications for the role of sexual selection in the evolution of anthropoid faces and for theories of human facial attractiveness.
Figure 2. Skeletal craniofacial variables relate to facial appearance.
We show that adult males have relatively shorter upper faces for their breadth compared to females (Table 1,2, Figure 1 and Figures S2 and S3). Lines superimposed on the pictures illustrate this facial dimorphism: vertical lines are positioned against the left and right zygion, and horizontal lines are positioned against the nasion and prosthion of the male face. In comparison to the female face, the male face is wider (represented by the distance between left and right point zygion) and the upper facial height (represented by the distance between point nasion and point prosthion) is approximately the same. The photographs are presented as taken, with identical camera-to-subject distance, and without rescaling, in order to represent the actual size of the faces.
