Posted on 12/03/2019 11:05:54 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
A distinctive jutting jawline seen in dozens of pictures from the Habsburg dynasty of Spanish and Austrian kings was caused by inbreeding, researchers have found.
The family intermarried multiple times, securing power and influence across a European empire for 200 years - but it carried with it an unusual by-product.
The distinctive Habsburg jaw can be seen in dozens of paintings, and researchers analysed the deformity, comparing it to the degree of relatedness in the kings and wives pictured in the images.
Professor Roman Vilas from the University of Santiago de Compostela said, "The Habsburg dynasty was one of the most influential in Europe, but became renowned for inbreeding, which was its eventual downfall.
We show for the first time that there is a clear positive relationship between inbreeding and appearance of the Habsburg jaw.
The researchers recruited 10 maxillofacial (face, mouth and jaw) surgeons to diagnose facial deformity in 66 portraits of 15 members of the Habsburg dynasty.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
This has been known for centuries.
Well, I could have told them that without their going to all the trouble. Of course it was; they were all related to one another...
Source article only shows ONE picture? Sheesh.
Note- Jay leno has large jutting jaw too- doubt it's from inbreedign though-
https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=habsburg+jaw&qpvt=Habsburg+Jaw&form=IGRE&first=1&cw=1129&ch=424
Charles II of Spain didn’t end up like that just because, that’s for sure. Poor guy.
The above article also stated that the study was really not conclusive, as it had ONLY looked at the paintings of the WORST of the lot vis-a-vis the jutting jaw, large nose, and large lower lip. And it also had some picture of Habsburgs with NO "deformaties".
Perhapsburg they also ended up with superior cognitive capacities as well.
After all they ruled nearly all of Europe for over 500 years, and were the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire for 400 of that.
And The Holy Roman Empire ruled all of Europe for a thousand years.
What we know today about Western Civilization sprouted there and blossomed into the very pinnacle of art and wealth.
Not such a bad legacy.
You see one picture, you saw them all.
Jay Leno and Paul Benedict (the Jeffersons) really look like they have it and I’ll throw in Gomer Pyle too.....lol
OOPS, didn’t see this before I posted........LOL
The Holy Roman Empire arguably existed for 1000 years -- though that would take some creative counting -- but never really ruled more than Greater Germany and northern Italy. It was also rather fractious, so it didn't have the degree of centralized control as did France, England, or Spain.
There was a period of a couple hundred years when it was arguably the strongest single entity in Europe, but even then it didn't even control a quarter of Europe as a whole.
Generations of first cousins intermarrying. What was to be expected?!
News Flash! Researchers have requested grant money to announce stuff that people 100 years ago already knew!
We used to call them ‘lantern jaws’.
Check out H.P. Lovecraft.
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