Well it’s not easy for humans to be objective about this one, says Stuart Blackman. After all, we probably all appear the same to most animals.
Why are humans so variable while other animal species tend to look the same?
But there might well be some truth to it. Highly social species must be able to recognise individuals, and while many species identify each other with their noses, we are visually dominant – as are chimpanzees, which are also facially variable.
We humans are also a cultural species, and ideals of beauty need not be adaptive, but could change with fashions according to time and place.
If certain features become desirable, they will become selected biologically. Indeed, variations in cultural preferences are thought to be a driving force behind differences in facial and physical characteristics of people from different parts of the world.