Remember this the next time your cat acts all superior Humans are the only species with chins. –smithsonianmag.com
You read it first in this week’s The Factory in Guide magazine.
If our skin keeps our insides in, what do our chins do? The chin isn’t just the lower part of your face - It’s a specific term for that little piece of bone extending from the jaw. The chin is a major defining part of our face or facial structure. It is part of the lower jaw called the mandible. And apparently no other mammal has a chin like humans do. Even chimpanzees and gorillas, mammals closest to us in frame, lack chins. Instead of pointing forward, their lower jaws slope down and back from their front teeth.
After we are born, our facial features will develop as we grow. For instance, our teeth will start to come in - our top teeth will come from the maxilla, our top jaw; and our bottom teeth will come forth from the upper mandible, our lower jaw. The roots of the teeth will be held firm with the help of our jaw bones and chin.
Throughout our adulthood until middle-age, 40’s - 50’s, our jawlines and chins will come to their fullest size. However, once we become elderly, our chins and jawline may shrink a little with bone loss. And as we begin to lose teeth in our old age, the chin may recede.
You may have heard of the term “double-chin”. A double chin, also called submental fullness, can result from a variety of causes, including hereditary factors, weight, anatomy, and airway positioning. Extra fat under the skin will give the appearance of two chins.
This is a lot of technical information about our chins. But, have you ever heard the term, “Keep your chin up”? This is a phrase we tell each other when we want to encourage someone who is down. Because usually when we are down or sad, we can go around with our heads drooping and our chins on our chest.
Well, here is the best reason of all to keep your chin up about chins. Other mammals or animals may not have a chin as we do and there is one very special reason why. I think it is the best reason! And it is found in the Bible.
Genesis 1:26-27 says, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness’, and …So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Because we are created in God’s image, we have chins! Feel free to rest your chin in your hand while you contemplate just how amazing that is!!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Learn More About This Fact
For more interesting facts, click on the buttons below!