Face

The face is "the front part of the head of a human or other animal, featuring the eyes, nose and mouth, and the surrounding area."[1] While that basic structure is found in many animals, the evolutionary development of mammals has led to a wide diversity of facial types between those species, identifiable by characteristics of facial features and of expressive behaviors. In an article published in 2018, researchers Kaoru Usui and Masayoshi Tokita note that "Mammals have evolved diverse morphologies to adapt to a wide range of ecological niches. The morphological diversity of mammalian heads is especially remarkable, possibly due to the head’s fundamental role in sensing, communication, and feeding." Such diversity is especially notable in primates, including human beings. Notable elements of primate facial morphology include forward-facing eyes, which allow for binocular vision and depth perception, and a reduced snout and nose. The human chin is unique to homo sapiens, a characteristic that sets modern humans apart from other humanoid species such as Neanderthals. That facial structure and its underlying musculature enable the human face to convey a wide range of emotions and meanings and help humans to find similarities in familial and cultural groups. On the other hand, surface differences in faces among individuals and groups such as eye color and hair color, facial hair or the lack of it, skin color, and the size and shape of features such as eyebrows, noses, and mouths, as well as signs of physical deformity or damage, may also contribute to racist ideologies and social and political discrimination.