Editing Human evolution (section)

=== Sexual dimorphism ===
The reduced degree of [[sexual dimorphism in humans]] is visible primarily in the reduction of the male [[canine tooth]] relative to other ape species (except gibbons) and reduced brow ridges and general robustness of males. Another important physiological change related to [[sexuality]] in humans was the evolution of [[Concealed ovulation|hidden estrus]]. Humans are the only hominoids in which the female is fertile year round and in which no special signals of fertility are produced by the body (such as genital swelling or overt changes in proceptivity during estrus).<ref>{{cite book |last=Tanner |first=Nancy Makepeace |title=On Becoming Human |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=_j45AAAAIAAJ |date=1981 |publisher=CUP Archive |isbn=978-0-521-28028-0 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=_j45AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA202 202]}}</ref>

Nonetheless, humans retain a degree of sexual dimorphism in the distribution of body hair and subcutaneous fat, and in the overall size, males being around 15% larger than females.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Reno |first1=Philip L. |last2=Lovejoy |first2=C. Owen |date=April 28, 2015 |title=From Lucy to Kadanuumuu: Balanced analyses of ''Australopithecus afarensis'' assemblages confirm only moderate skeletal dimorphism |journal=PeerJ |volume=3 |page=e925 |doi=10.7717/peerj.925 |pmid=25945314 |pmc=4419524 |issn=2167-8359 |doi-access=free}}</ref> These changes taken together have been interpreted as a result of an increased emphasis on [[pair bond]]ing as a possible solution to the requirement for increased parental investment due to the prolonged infancy of offspring.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lovejoy |first=C. Owen |date=October 2, 2009 |title=Reexamining Human Origins in Light of Ardipithecus ramidus |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=326 |issue=5949 |pages=74–74e8 |doi=10.1126/science.1175834 |issn=0036-8075 |bibcode=2009Sci...326...74L |url= http://doc.rero.ch/record/211449/files/PAL_E4439.pdf |pmid=19810200 |s2cid=42790876 |access-date=December 6, 2019 |archive-date=February 24, 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210224110943/http://doc.rero.ch/record/211449/files/PAL_E4439.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>