Evolution of facial muscle anatomy in dogs
Open accessAbstract
Significance: Dogs were shaped during the course of domestication both in their behavior and in their anatomical features. Here we show that domestication transformed the facial muscle anatomy of dogs specifically for facial communication with humans. A muscle responsible for raising the inner eyebrow intensely is uniformly present in dogs but not in wolves. Behavioral data show that dogs also produce the eyebrow movement significantly more often and with higher intensity than wolves do, with highest-intensity movements produced exclusively by dogs. Interestingly, this movement increases paedomorphism and resembles an expression humans produce when sad, so its production in dogs may trigger a nurturing response. We hypothesize that dogs’ expressive eyebrows are the result of selection based on humans’ preferences.
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Dogs have evolved their facial muscles, developing more expressive eyes than wolves.
“Moreover, a recent study showed that dogs have evolved their facial muscles, developing more expressive eyes than wolves [32].”
From Are dark-eyed dogs favoured by humans? Domestication as a potential driver of iris colour difference between dogs and wolves (2023) · cites this paper as [32]
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“Moreover, a recent study showed that dogs have evolved their facial muscles, developing more expressive eyes than wolves [32].”
Background
- Authors
- Kaminski, J., Waller, B. M., Diogo, R., Hartstone-Rose, A., & Burrows, A. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Portsmouth (GB)
- Howard University (US)
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695;
- Duquesne University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kaminski, Juliane
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2019-06-17
- Volume
- 116
- Issue
- 29
- Pages
- 14677-14681
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC6642381
- OpenAlex
- W2950181455
- Cited by
- 138
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 31 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 3
- FWCI
- 10.96
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nc-nd
- creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (vor)
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Nottingham Trent University's Institutional Repository (Nottingham Trent Repository) (acceptedVersion)
- Digital Howard (Howard University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Human-Animal Interaction Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Geometry and Topology › Morphological variations and asymmetry
- Keywords
- dog domestication, facial muscle anatomy, eyebrow movements, facial communication, paedomorphosis, dog behavior, domestication syndrome
- MeSH terms
- Domestication, Animals, Behavior, Animal, Human-Animal Bond, Dogs, Eyebrows, Facial Expression, Facial Muscles, Female, Humans, Selection, Genetic, Wolves
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