--- title: Human Ancestors' Faces Evolved to Handle Punches to the Face description: A new study shows that the shape of human faces evolved to minimize injury incurred by punches canonical: https://time.com/2847172/evolution-punch-to-the-face/ author: Melissa Hellmann article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-09T12:29:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T08:17:26.516Z article:section: Health og:title: Human Ancestors' Faces Evolved to Handle Punches to the Face og:description: A new study shows that the shape of human faces evolved to minimize injury incurred by punches og:url: https://time.com/2847172/evolution-punch-to-the-face/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt34c6384bc39d6f0e/698696ba169ab0f075279d40/skulls.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2287 og:image:height: 1286 og:image:alt: University of Utah og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Human Ancestors' Faces Evolved to Handle Punches to the Face twitter:description: A new study shows that the shape of human faces evolved to minimize injury incurred by punches twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt34c6384bc39d6f0e/698696ba169ab0f075279d40/skulls.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # We Evolved To Withstand Getting Punched in The Face > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=3f4eb378-44b6-4927-a031-f809ca520584&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) by [Melissa Hellmann](https://time.com/author/melissa-hellmann/) ## Melissa Hellmann Jun 9, 2014 12:29 PM UTC  University of Utah University of Utah An artist's impression of how human faces may have evolved to minimise injury from punches. by [Melissa Hellmann](https://time.com/author/melissa-hellmann/) ## Melissa Hellmann Jun 9, 2014 12:29 PM UTC Humans evolved to [minimize injury incurred by punches to the face](http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jun/09/human-face-developed-over-5m-years-of-fighting-scientists-claim), a new study suggests. Researchers at the University of Utah observed that the fossils of australopiths—bi-peds that lived 4-5 million years ago and directly preceded the human genus Homo—had robust cheek, jaw, eye and nose features. Scientists had previously thought that the australopiths’ strong facial features were an evolutionary adaptation to their hardy diet, but the study published in the journal _Biological Reviews_ suggests that they were likely eating softer foods like fruit. Dr. David Carrier, the lead researcher in the study, told the [_Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jun/09/human-face-developed-over-5m-years-of-fighting-scientists-claim) that the australopiths’ hands had adapted to form a fist, allowing them to engage in hand-to-hand combat. “When modern humans fight hand to hand, the face is usually the primary target,” Carrier said. Carrier and his team found that the bones that had evolved to be more robust were typically the features that suffer the greatest impact in a fight. The study also shows that while the faces, hands and up-right nature of australopiths evolved to allow for improved fighting, modern-day humans have less robust facial features. Carrier told [BBC](http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-27720617) that humans have less of a need to protect themselves because violence is no longer a driving evolutionary factor. “There’s a temporal correlation,” Carrier said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2847172/evolution-punch-to-the-face/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2847172/evolution-punch-to-the-face/"},"headline":"We Evolved To Withstand Getting Punched in The Face","datePublished":"2014-06-09T12:29:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:17:26.516Z","description":"\"When modern humans fight hand to hand, the face is usually the primary target,\" a researcher says","url":"https://time.com/2847172/evolution-punch-to-the-face/","keywords":["Research","violence","Evolution","fighting"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt34c6384bc39d6f0e/698696ba169ab0f075279d40/skulls.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Hellmann","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-hellmann/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt34c6384bc39d6f0e/698696ba169ab0f075279d40/skulls.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"University of Utah","caption":"University of Utah","creditText":"An artist's impression of how human faces may have evolved to minimise injury from punches.","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/research/","name":"Research"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2847172/evolution-punch-to-the-face/","name":"We Evolved To Withstand Getting Punched in The Face"}}]}] ```