I took some photos of Burrito this morning that caused me to admire his face and think about the chimpanzee facial features that I love.
The top of my personal “awesome chimpanzee facial features” list is the brow ridge (also known as supraorbital torus, ridge, or arch).
Though much less pronounced in chimpanzees, humans have a supraorbital ridge too – our eyebrows normally sit near the bottom of our arches.
Each chimpanzee has a somewhat unique brow ridge – I wonder if you could identify a chimpanzee by a brow ridge “print” like a fingerprint.
I will never say that I have a favorite chimpanzee, but I will admit that I have a favorite brow ridge: Jody’s. I like how deeply arched it is with lots of wrinkles, giving it a decidedly heart-shaped appearance:
Here’s a look at everyone else’s supraorbital tori:
Missy:
Negra:
Foxie:
Jamie (that’s also her profile in the 2nd photo in this post):
Annie:
Burrito:
