horse cavalry have been shown to have similar facial expressions as humankind and chimpanzee . Just like homo , buck practice the same muscularity to alter their facial expressions . I ’ll spare you the offal horse puns and get flat down to the enquiry .
The study , published inPLOS ONE , builds on previous research that has shown that facial expression is important for horses to communicate . Researchers fromSussex UniversitydevelopedThe Equine Facial Action Coding System(EquiFACS ) to identify and code facial movements in horses . The dick allows researchers to value facial verbalism by depend at the underlie muscle move . They suggest this is the first methodology that documents all of the facial movements of a horse . EquiFACS has been adapted from the originalFACSsystem used for human being .
Researchers analyzed video footage of horses exhibit a wide range of behaviors , looking particularly at dissimilar facial movements . They then carried out an anatomical investigation of the facial muscle behind these motility . research worker identified 17 discrete facial movements , do it as “ activity whole , ” in horses . There are 27 action units in humans and 13 in chimps .
“ Horses are preponderantly visual animals , with eyesight that ’s good than domestic guy and weenie , yet their use of goods and services of facial expressions has been largely neglect . What surprise us was the plentiful repertoire of complex facial bm in horses , and how many of them are similar to humans ” co - writer researcher Jennifer Wathan , tell in astatement .
“ Despite the conflict in face social organisation between horses and humans , we were able-bodied to identify some standardised expressions in congress to movements of the lips and eyes , ” she add .
As the findings make cross species comparisons , researchers suggest this help enhance our understanding of the single-valued function of communicating and how it evolved . Co - source Professor Karen McComb explained , in astatement , that the answer of the survey add to a grow body of evidence that “ social factors have had a significant influence on the phylogeny of facial expression . ”
