Category: Uncategorized

SO ENDS this contemplation of what gives the human mouth and smile such a range of subtle expressions, and how these are lacking in other vertebrates, and how they arose during evolution. The exquisite anatomical analysis that has gone into this work is used daily in cosmetic surgery, and takes the crusty old Victorian anatomists working in the museum basement right into the modern clinic. Lovely stuff. View in LinkedIn

ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS. “At higher levels of evolution the muscles are adapted for communication as articulators in vocalization and producing the movements used in visual communication of facial displays.” https://lnkd.in/di-WAXE View in LinkedIn

SECONDARY FUNCTION. “Facial displays (or expressions) are created by contraction of the mimetic muscles, branchiomeric skeletal muscle that attach into the dermis of the face and into the cartilages of the external ear and external nose. These muscles are innervated by the facial nerve and primarily function to change the size of the openings for the orbital, nasal, and oral cavities to assist their biologic functions, produce movement of vibrissae, and assist in nutrient intake.” https://lnkd.in/di-WAXE View in LinkedIn

FACIAL MASK. “The evolution of mammals included development of a mobile face or “facial mask.” In most orders it is used, at least in part, for visual communication via facial displays. In addition, evolution of the facial mask is associated with reorganization of the visual, olfactory, and auditory regions of the brain.” https://lnkd.in/di-WAXE View in LinkedIn

SPECIES CONCEPT. “The notion of species as it is applied to prokaryotes is substantially different from the species concept as applied to multi-cellular eukaryotes, probably to the point of being incommensurate.” https://standardsingenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40793-016-0180-8 View in LinkedIn

FACE EVOLUTION. “Evolution of the human face can be conceptualized as proceeding through structurally and functionally integrated units based on these demands but evolution of the human face as a whole would have been constrained by the mosaic nature of evolution of the soft tissue “mask,” underlying viscerocranium, dentition, and brain.” https://lnkd.in/di-WAXE View in LinkedIn

UNIQUE GENE HISTORIES. “Rather, a prokaryote’s core-genome may have one tree, while each and every component of its flex-genome will have an independent tree. Some horizontal gene transfer occurs even for genes in the core-genome, meaning that in principle every gene in a prokaryotic genome could have its own evolutionary history.” https://standardsingenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40793-016-0180-8 View in LinkedIn

“THE MODIOLUS is composed of dense compact fibromuscular tissue. It is first and foremost a mobile decussation between the muscles ending in it and the orbicularis oris muscle.” https://lnkd.in/dSmsCKn View in LinkedIn

“CLASSICAL BIOLOGY is anchored by the concept of the individual organism. In traditional thinking about evolution, biodiversity, and ecosystems, the concept of “individual organism” occupies a position as fundamental as “gene” was to classical genetics.” https://lnkd.in/ewnQ9Vg View in LinkedIn

NEW WORLD. “Simply put, there is nothing in the prokaryotic realm that corresponds unambiguously to the classical ideas of individual or species.” https://standardsingenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40793-016-0180-8 View in LinkedIn