title: Variation and signatures of selection on the human face.
abstract: There has been much debate about why humans throughout the world differ in facial form. Previous studies of human skull morphology found levels of among-population differentiation that were comparable to those of neutral genetic markers, suggesting that genetic drift (neutral processes) played an important role in influencing facial differentiation. However, variation in soft-tissue morphology has not been studied in detail. In this study, we analyzed high-resolution 3D images of soft-tissue facial form in four Eurasian populations: Han Chinese, Tibetans, Uyghur and Europeans. A novel method was used to establish a high-density alignment across all of the faces, allowing facial diversity to be examined at an unprecedented resolution. These data exhibit signatures of population structure and history. However, among-population differentiation was higher for soft-tissue facial form than for genome-wide genetic loci, and high-resolution analyses reveal that the nose, brow area and cheekbones exhibit particularly strong signals of differentiation (Qst estimates: 0.3-0.8) between Europeans and Han Chinese. Our results suggest that local adaptation and/or sexual selection have been important in shaping human soft-tissue facial morphology.
authors.affiliation: CAS-MPG Partner Institute and Key Laboratory for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yueyang Road 320, Shanghai 200031, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering and Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China; Fudan-Taizhou Institute of Health Sciences, 1 Yaocheng Road, Taizhou, Jiangsu 225300, China.
authors.forename: Jingze
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering and Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China; Fudan-Taizhou Institute of Health Sciences, 1 Yaocheng Road, Taizhou, Jiangsu 225300, China.
authors.forename: Yajun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: CAS-MPG Partner Institute and Key Laboratory for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yueyang Road 320, Shanghai 200031, China.
authors.forename: Hang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: CAS-MPG Partner Institute and Key Laboratory for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yueyang Road 320, Shanghai 200031, China.
authors.forename: Sile
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Anatomy, Preclinical Medical College, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, Xinjiang 830011, China.
authors.forename: Agu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hashan
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Anatomy, Preclinical Medical College, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, Xinjiang 830011, China.
authors.forename: Nurmamat
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bahaxar
authors.affiliation: CAS-MPG Partner Institute and Key Laboratory for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yueyang Road 320, Shanghai 200031, China.
authors.forename: Shuhua
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA; Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig 04103, Germany.
authors.forename: Timothy D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Weaver
authors.affiliation: CAS-MPG Partner Institute and Key Laboratory for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yueyang Road 320, Shanghai 200031, China; State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering and Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China; Fudan-Taizhou Institute of Health Sciences, 1 Yaocheng Road, Taizhou, Jiangsu 225300, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig 04103, Germany.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stoneking
authors.affiliation: CAS-MPG Partner Institute and Key Laboratory for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yueyang Road 320, Shanghai 200031, China. Electronic address: tangkun@picb.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000885:Anthropology, Physical; D005145:Face / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D016018:Least-Squares Analysis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: 3D imaging; Human facial morphology; Morphological divergence; Natural selection; Sexual selection