Chins are a bit useless so why do we need them?

 Chins are a bit useless so why do why have them?

 

 The piece of flesh at the bottom of our face is called the chin. Surely everyone knows this, however, no one if asked would seems to grasp or clearly give an explanation of why we all have a chin and what its function is. When it comes to differentiating an anatomic modern human skull compared with a Neanderthal one, scientists determine the skulls's age by looking if the skull has a chin. That is what makes this topic so interesting. Nobody can quite understand or agree on why we have a chin.

  No other animals have a chin like humans, not even the chimpanzee or apes who have a slant inward jaw. Zaneta Thayer, a researcher from the University of Colorado, Denver, says that perhaps a dietary shift between Neanderthals and modern humans caused the chin to form. Although it is hard to explain why the chin exists, there are three theories that can help understand this weird fact.

The first theory argues that the chin is another bone that helps us chew our food as well as reduce stress. Unfortunately, scientists do not agree with this because they say it has nothing to do with the reduction of stress.

The second theory says that humans need the chin because it helps with speaking. However, again scientists debate this point saying that another bone is not necessary to help people speak since the chin itself does not help with the speech process. 

The last theory is presented as a non-functional one. Instead, this theory states the chin is an attribute that helps to attract the opposite sex. Nevertheless, this does not have any logic according to scientists because this attribute is found in both genders.

Finally, after discussing the three hypotheses already mentioned above, it clearly appears that the three of them fall flat and do not give us an accurate explanation about the chin. In fact, until now no one knows why we all have a chin. Meanwhile, research continues on finding out the purpose of a chin. 

Hogenboom, Melissa. "Chins Are a Bit Useless so Why Do We Have Them?" BBC. BBC, 4 Feb. 2016. Web. 08 Feb. 2016. <http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160204-why-do-humans-have-chins>.