How Evolution Made the Monkey Face

Discover magazine responds to a paper co-authored by ISG faculty Jessica Lynch Alfaro, Michael Alfaro and former ISG postdoctoral fellow, Sharlene Santana,  in its most recent article on human evolution.  The research describes the link between  the complexity of a monkey species’ facial color pattern and certain social systems.  Species that live in larger groups tend to have plainer faces than those living in smaller groups.  See the full article here

Referenced Paper:
Santana, S.E., Lynch Alfaro, J. W. and Alfaro, M. 2012. Adaptive evolution of facial colour patterns in Neotropical primates. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

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