One study demonstrated that the “puppy eyes” would be a relatively recent innovation specific to dogs, developed with the domestication to soften or conquer their human masters. According to this theory, the muscles periocular domestic dogs would have evolved to the point of further improving their facial expressions.
However, one research recently conducted and published on The Anatomical Record wanted to demonstrate that dogs are not the only canids to acquire the aforementioned characteristic. In fact, it seems that even i wild dogs, African wild dogs, have rather pronounced facial muscles. Both domestic dogs and wild dogs are capable of making “puppy eyes” if they wish.
Why don’t wolves make “puppy dog eyes”?
Interestingly, while African wild dogs have distinctively developed muscles around their eyes, the wolf, especially with the closest degree of kinship to the domestic dog, has not shown such a development. The wild dogs, living in packs and often communicating at considerable distances in the vastness of the savannah, seem to have matured a wider range of facial expressions to facilitate the exchange of messages between them.
The wolf, having adapted to life and hunting in low visibility forests, has preferred to enhance other methods of communication, such as the use of odors and of vocalization. After investigating the link between the domestic dog and the wild dog, the next step for the research team will be to determine whether other canids also possess the ability to make “puppy dog eyes.”
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