The Human Body Part Evolution Still Can’t Fully Explain

The human chin looks so ordinary that most people never think of it as strange. It sits at the bottom of the face, helps define profile and expression, and seems like something every human face should naturally have.

But from an evolutionary point of view, the chin is surprisingly mysterious. Modern humans are the only living primates with a true protruding chin, and even close extinct relatives such as Neanderthals did not have one in the same way. Scientists have proposed several explanations, but no single answer has fully settled the question.