You can now knowingly say that your dog makes eyes at you and the results of a study published in the journal PNAS suggest that dogs have developed a muscle that makes their eyes appear larger and sadder . What has been putting eyes of a lifetime.
The LAOM (levator anguli oculi medialis), which is the name of this eye-making muscle, is located above the eyes and allows the inner part of the eyebrows to be raised. The result is that the animal appears to have larger eyes, which may remind us of those of a small child. In addition, it gives him an aura of sadness that makes us feel sorry for him , that we want to protect him.
New research has found that wolves do not possess LAOM but only their domestic cousins. This leads us to believe that our best friends have developed this facial muscle to move us and get a positive response from us . “The findings suggest that expressive eyebrows in dogs could be the result of unconscious human preferences that influenced selection during domestication,” said behavioral psychologist Juliane Kaminski of the University of Portsmouth.
“When dogs make the move, humans seem to have a strong desire to care for them. This would give dogs that move their eyebrows more, a selection advantage over others, and reinforce the ‘puppy eyes’ trait for generations. future “.
In earlier research, Kaminski and his team showed that dogs make facial expressions only to humans, to communicate with them . And it is that when they looked at the dogs, the dogs did them while when people did not look at them, they did not.
In the present investigation, the team studied the behavior of the dog ( Canis familiaris ) in comparison with that of the wolf ( Canis lupus ), and carried out a comparative analysis of the facial anatomy of both species.
Because dogs and wolves are believed to have evolved from a common ancestor, these comparisons may reveal the ways that 33,000 years of domestication have changed the dog.
The researchers performed their facial anatomy comparison on four wolves and six dogs . “To determine if this brow movement is a result of evolution, we compared the facial anatomy and behavior of these two species and found that the muscle that allows the raising of the eyebrows in dogs was, in wolves, a group sparse and irregular fibers, “said Duquesne University anatomist Anne Burrows.
“The movement of the raised eyebrows in dogs is driven by a muscle that does not exist consistently in their closest living relative, the wolf.”
And with two wolves and six other dogs, the team observed how they used their faces around humans.
Among the dog breeds analyzed, the husky is the one with the least developed LAOM . It makes sense because it is one of the oldest breeds of dogs that exist, genetically closest to wolves . The discovery suggests that LAOM appeared in dogs before the first huskies were bred and that it has continued to develop afterward.
“We also studied the behavior of dogs and wolves, and when exposed to a human for two minutes, dogs raise their eyebrows more and with greater intensity than wolves, ” said Kaminski.
Muscle anatomy generally evolves very slowly, so it appears to be a fairly large change that has occurred in just about 10,000 years , the team stated. The reason, they believe, is due to the positive effects of canine facial expressions on dogs’ interactions with humans.
“This movement makes dogs’ eyes appear larger, giving them a childlike appearance. It could also mimic the facial movement humans make when they are sad,” said evolutionary psychologist Bridget Waller of the University of Portsmouth.
Of course, Kaminsky makes it clear in a statement that there is no evidence that dogs raise their eyebrows intentionally , that is, to get something from us. Of course, they do it when someone is looking at them, so it is a movement that they can control.
