Patty Rodriguez

Patty Rodriguez

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'Puppy Eyes' Have Evolved to Appeal to Humans

Animal Rescue Centres Feel The Strain After Christmas Pets Are Abandoned

We all love dogs. They are simply the cutest creatures on this planet! We fall for their adorable little faces and it turns out, there is a scientific reason why.

Researchers think there is a reason for this -- with dogs evolving new muscles around the eyes to help bond with their two-legged friends.

CNN is reporting that experts in the UK and USA who studied the anatomy and behavior of dogs and wolves found that the muscular composition of canine faces has changed, allowing them to "better communicate with humans."Researchers dissected dog and wolf heads and found that the facial muscle anatomy of both animals was almost identical -- except for an eyebrow muscle, found only in dogs, that allows them to "intensely" raise their eyebrows.

See....our dogs have been able to communicate with us all along!

The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America(PNAS) journal, found that the inner eyebrow raising movement makes the dogs' eyes "appear larger, more infant like and also resembles a movement humans produce when they are sad."

This would give the dogs that moved their eyebrows more a "selection advantage" over others, reinforcing the trait in subsequent generations.

CNN continues to report that the researchers also studied the behavior of dogs and wolves and found that when exposed to a person for intervals of two minutes, dogs raised their inner eyebrows more and at higher intensities than wolves.

"Our findings show how important faces can be in capturing our attention, and how powerful facial expression can be in social interaction," the study's co-author, evolutionary psychologist Bridget Waller, said in a statement.

So yes, your puppy's incredibly adorable face is their way of communicating with you!

PHOTOS: Getty Images

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