Simply put, the brow ridges of our ancestors did not seem to serve a mechanical function. They were possibly a social signal, a sign of strength and dominance. For the heidelbergensis, prominent brows were just plain sexy, a desirable trait in a mate.

Your “glabella” is the skin on your forehead, between your eyebrows and above your nose. When you make facial expressions, that skin is moved by the muscles on your forehead. These wrinkles are called glabellar lines, or more commonly, forehead furrows.

The space between the eyes is equal to one eye length. The eyelid overlaps the sclera. The ball of the nose falls in the middle of the guideline. The nostrils are above the guideline.

Function. The brow ridge functions to reinforce the weaker bones of the face in much the same way that the chin of modern humans reinforces their comparatively thin mandibles.

Ridge No More It remains uncertain why the modern human face shrunk — it may be due to the advent of cooking and other forms of food preparation, or a change in levels of exercise, among other possibilities, O’Higgins said. However, these changes did coincide with increasing sociality among modern humans.

If you exhibit any of the following traits, they may just be an echo of your inner Neanderthal:

1. Occipital bun.
2. Elongated skull.
3. Space behind the wisdom teeth.
4. Supraorbital ridge or brow ridge.
5. Broad, projecting nose.
6. Little or no protruding chin.
7. Rosy cheeks.
8. Wide fingers and thumbs.

Although the loss of the brow ridge may have initially been driven by changes in our brain or facial reduction, it subsequently allowed our eyebrows to make many different subtle and friendly gestures to people around us.

The popular explanation for Neanderthals’ big noses is that they were an adaptation for the cold climates of the Pleistocene ice ages. The large nasal cavity would have warmed the cold air before it reached their lungs.

– On his thick muscular legs, a Neanderthal could easily trek 30 miles just to find some dinner. – Modern humans might be smarter, but Neanderthals would win any arm-wrestling match. They were anywhere from 5-20% stronger than modern humans.

It’s obviously speculative, but a modern man of above-average build would have an excellent chance of defeating a Neanderthal in hand-to-hand combat if he could keep his opponent at arm’s length, survive the initial onslaught, and wear him down.

MC1R is a receptor gene that controls the production of melanin, the protein responsible for pigmentation of the hair and skin. Neanderthals had a mutation in this receptor gene which changed an amino acid, making the resulting protein less efficient and likely creating a phenotype of red hair and pale skin.