Science & Technology

Human faces evolved to be recognizable

By T.K. Randall
September 17, 2014 ·  16 comments

Humans used facial recognition to identify one another. Image Credit: sxc.hu Researchers at the University of California used a US Army database to perform a comparison of facial traits such as forehead-chin distance and nose width against physical traits from other parts of the body such as forearm length and waist height.

The team concluded that humans have evolved more varied and unique facial features because, unlike most animals, we rely on sight rather than smell to help us identify individuals."Humans are phenomenally good at recognising faces; there is a part of the brain specialized for that," said behavioral ecologist Michael Sheehan who co-authored the research.

"Our study now shows that humans have been selected to be unique and easily recognisable. It is clearly beneficial for me to recognise others, but also beneficial for me to be recognisable."

"Otherwise, we would all look more similar."

Source: Independent | Comments (16)

Tags: Human, Face