Study Finds Minor Changes in Average Japanese Skull Shape Over Past Century

“We expected to see more ‘neutral’ facial structures. ” Shiori Usui works at the National Research Institute of Police Science in Chiba, Japan. The changes seem too recent to result from genetic evolution.

The changes probably result from better health and nutrition during childhood and eating softer foods that require less chewing. Scientists often use measurements from 19th- and early 20th-century human remains as references for modern humans. People are generally taller and larger today than a century ago due in large part to changes in their health, diet and environment.

A 2024 US study has hinted at similar changes in men’s and women’s faces over time. But a US study published in 2000 pointed to an opposite change in general head shape, more oval than round, in the past 100 years. That could reflect technological limitations or ethnic changes from large-scale immigration in the US population.

70235. “It makes sense that similar morphological shifts are occurring worldwide, as lifestyles modernise globally,” Shiori Usui said. For Francesco Cappello at the University of Palermo, Italy, the study underscores that even relatively recent human populations don’t get fixed at a certain physical norm, but instead continue to change.

“This raises important questions about the interplay between genetics and environment – especially in traits that have traditionally been considered relatively stable, like that of the biomorphology of the bones,” he said. The findings suggest that scientists should consider updating their standards for identifying human remains, said Kimberly Plomp at the University of the Philippines Diliman.

“If modern human crania, and potentially other bones, have changed in morphology in such a short period of time, this could mean that the methods we use are no longer as accurate as hoped,” she said.