Oleg Zabluda's blog
Wednesday, May 09, 2012
 
Notice anything strange about the chimpanzee below?
Notice anything strange about the chimpanzee below? Looks too human? Maybe like half of your friends? It's all in the eyes. He has white sclerae.

The mutation causing white sclerae is universal in humans, but it turns up occasionally in apes, too, but doesn't take hold. White sclerae became universal among humans because it enabled them to communicate better with each other, and their babies (since one can tell better where others are looking), and with dogs, but not with wolves (who don't care where you are looking) and not with cats (who judge by the head position, not eyes). No genetic study has yet confirmed the prevalence or absence of white sclerae in Paleolithic modern humans or in Neandertals.

http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/id.15294,y.0,no.,content.true,page.1,css.print/issue.aspx

This brings an interesting hypothesis. Maybe women with large eyes are considered more attractive because they can communicate (including with offspring) and flirt better, especially at a distance, and pass it to the daughters. This could explain the eyes sexual dimorphism, and could be verified by cheching if it exists in chimps and if they share our sense of beauty.

http://www.americanscientist.org/Libraries/images/201244125249002-2012-05MargShipmanFD.jpg
http://www.americanscientist.org/Libraries/images/201244125249002-2012-05MargShipmanFD.jpg

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