Study Suggests That Dogs’ Faces Evolved To Better Connect With Humans
The muscle changes together suggest that dogs’ faces have evolved anatomically in order to better connect with people, according to Anne Burrows, a biological anthropologist at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, and the leader of this project.
She said, “It’s quite a remarkable difference between dogs & wolves,” “They don’t move their heads in the same manner.”
Burrows and Kailey Omstead (animal physiologist at Duquesne) presented preliminary results of their research Tuesday at Philadelphia’s Experimental Biology 2022 meeting.
The muscles of dogs’ faces were found to be 66 percent to 95% fast-twitch fibers. Wolf’s muscle is about 25%.
All mammals, including dogs and humans, have millions of myosin fibers in their muscles. There are two types of muscle fibers: fast-twitch fibers which contract rapidly but can fatigue quickly, and slow-twitch fibers which contract slowly but don’t tire nearly as fast.
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