Did dogs develop eyebrow muscles to communicate with humans after being domesticated?
| Jul 8, 2019, 16:13 IST
It's no secret that dogs have evolved from wolves. However, while wolves are carnivores that can send a chill down your spine if you encounter one, dogs can prove to be rather cute and cuddly. Ever wondered what the reason for this may be? It's not just that dogs are domesticated; a study has now found that they may have developed muscles around their eyes to help them better communicate with humans.
As per the research, dogs have an extra muscle above the eyes which wolves do not. Everything else about these two species is similar except for this small muscle. Owing to this muscle, dogs are able to intensely raise their eyebrows and show us what we've termed as the 'puppy-dog eyes'. The researchers were able to find that dogs use this method to their advantage because doing so can trigger a nurturing response in humans as it makes the dogs' eyes appear bigger and sadder.
“The evidence is compelling that dogs developed a muscle to raise the inner eyebrow after they were domesticated from wolves. We also studied dogs’ and wolves’ behaviour, and when exposed to a human for two minutes, dogs raised their inner eyebrows more and at higher intensities than wolves,’ explained lead author of the study, Dr Juliane Kaminski.
“The findings suggest that expressive eyebrows in dogs may be a result of humans unconscious preferences that influenced selection during domestication. When dogs make the movement, it seems to elicit a strong desire in humans to look after them. This would give dogs, that move their eyebrows more, a selection advantage over others and reinforce the ‘puppy dog eyes’ trait for future generations,’" she added.
The research also proves that dogs make this eyebrow movement a lot more often when a human is looking at them (smart huh!). Well, this research could probably help figure out some more secrets of domestication. Stay tuned for more updates.
As per the research, dogs have an extra muscle above the eyes which wolves do not. Everything else about these two species is similar except for this small muscle. Owing to this muscle, dogs are able to intensely raise their eyebrows and show us what we've termed as the 'puppy-dog eyes'. The researchers were able to find that dogs use this method to their advantage because doing so can trigger a nurturing response in humans as it makes the dogs' eyes appear bigger and sadder.
“The evidence is compelling that dogs developed a muscle to raise the inner eyebrow after they were domesticated from wolves. We also studied dogs’ and wolves’ behaviour, and when exposed to a human for two minutes, dogs raised their inner eyebrows more and at higher intensities than wolves,’ explained lead author of the study, Dr Juliane Kaminski.
“The findings suggest that expressive eyebrows in dogs may be a result of humans unconscious preferences that influenced selection during domestication. When dogs make the movement, it seems to elicit a strong desire in humans to look after them. This would give dogs, that move their eyebrows more, a selection advantage over others and reinforce the ‘puppy dog eyes’ trait for future generations,’" she added.
The research also proves that dogs make this eyebrow movement a lot more often when a human is looking at them (smart huh!). Well, this research could probably help figure out some more secrets of domestication. Stay tuned for more updates.