Variation and signatures of selection on the human face
Open accessAbstract
There has been much debate about why humans throughout the world differ in facial form. Previous studies of human skull morphology found levels of among-population differentiation that were comparable to those of neutral genetic markers, suggesting that genetic drift (neutral processes) played an important role in influencing facial differentiation. However, variation in soft-tissue morphology has not been studied in detail. In this study, we analyzed high-resolution 3D images of soft-tissue facial form in four Eurasian populations: Han Chinese, Tibetans, Uyghur and Europeans. A novel method was used to establish a high-density alignment across all of the faces, allowing facial diversity to be examined at an unprecedented resolution. These data exhibit signatures of population structure and history. However, among-population differentiation was higher for soft-tissue facial form than for genome-wide genetic loci, and high-resolution analyses reveal that the nose, brow area and cheekbones exhibit particularly strong signals of differentiation (Qst estimates: 0.3-0.8) between Europeans and Han Chinese. Our results suggest that local adaptation and/or sexual selection have been important in shaping human soft-tissue facial morphology.
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Divergence in the shape of the external nose, at least between Europeans and Han Chinese populations, exceeds neutral expectations.
“More recently, it was also reported that the divergence in the shape of the external nose, at least between Europeans and Han Chinese populations, also exceeds neutral expectations [14].”
From Investigating the case of human nose shape and climate adaptation (2017) · cites this paper as [14]
Previous Qst-based studies of craniofacial divergence assumed h2 = 0.55 and c = 1, resulting in c/h2 greater than 1.
“In these studies, h2 was assumed to be 0.55 and c was implicitly assumed to be 1, resulting in c/h2 to be greater than 1.”
From Investigating the case of human nose shape and climate adaptation (2017) · cites this paper as [14]
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References 54 · Cited by 54
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Fisher, R.A., 1958. The Genetics Theory of Natural Selection, Second edition. Dover Publications, New York.
- Authors
- Guo, J., Tan, J., Yang, Y., Zhou, H., Hu, S., Hashan, A., Bahaxar, N., Xu, S., Weaver, T. D., Jin, L., Stoneking, M., & Tang, K.
- Affiliations
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Fudan University (CN)
- Xinjiang Medical University (CN)
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Tang, Kun
- ORCID
- Venue
- Journal of Human Evolution
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2014-10
- Volume
- 75
- Pages
- 143-152
- ISSN
- 0047-2484 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2157741084
- Cited by
- 54
- References
- 54
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 4
- FWCI
- 6.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Human Evolution (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Max Planck Digital Library (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Outstanding Junior Researchers (2011KIP201)
- Key Research Direction Grant (KSCX2-EW-Q-1-12)
- Max-Planck-Gesellschaft Partner Group Grant
- SA-SIBS 2011 Young Faculty Grant
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Geometry and Topology › Morphological variations and asymmetry
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic diversity and population structure
- Keywords
- genetic differentiation, selection signatures, local adaptation, sexual selection, genetic drift, 3D facial imaging, facial landmark detection, Han Chinese, Tibetans, Uyghurs, Europeans, quantitative sensory testing, nose, frons
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Anthropology, Physical, Face, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Selection, Genetic, Least-Squares Analysis, Imaging, Three-Dimensional, Racial Groups, Young Adult
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