Anatomy & Physiology
The Muscular System
Read My Lips!
1. (Name) Can you name the muscle indicated by this
line in the diagram? Orbicularis oris.
2. (Classify) Under which system of naming muscles is
Orbicularis oris named? It is named according to
what it looks like and where it is.
3. (Describe) How would you describe the unusual
appearance of the lips? They are pink and they
protrude from the face, etc.
4. (Compare) How does the appearance of the lips
compare to the appearance of the other muscles of
the face surrounding them? They are redder.
5. (Infer) What would you infer about the relationships
between the structure of the lips and the function of
the lips? That structure defines function, that is,
they are designed to suit their job description.
6. (List) Can you list the functions of the lips? They
sense temperature and texture of foods in order to
protect our inside living tissues, so we don’t eat
something that is too hot or sharp or hard, or has
a lot of moving legs like a centipede. They help us
articulate sounds during speech. They help us
acquire food through the use of suction as nursing
infants, and…Oh yeah, lips are for kissing.
7. (Classify) What kind of kisses are there? Some
kisses demonstrate nurturing and some kisses are
more sexual.
8. (Speculate) How did kissing, which is such a
widespread human behavior throughout the world
today and throughout history, get started among
humans? What is the anthropological origin of the
kiss as a human behavior? Most students will
hypothesize that kissing is more about nurturing,
while others will hypothesize kissing is more about
sex and reproduction.
9. (Indentify) Can you identify the type of kissing
behavior in the video clip (Nova Video: Mystery of
the Senses – Touch), and identify the tribal African
and tribal Asian persons doing the kissing?
Nurturing kissing. Two mothers, one sister.
10. (Analyze) Can you analyze the kissing behavior
demonstrated by the mothers and sister in the video?
The mothers and sister are using kissing (kiss-
feeding) to feed infants and young children.
11. (Classify) How would you classify that kissing
behavior? Nurturing.
12. (Formulate) Based on your analysis of the data
from the video clip, can you formulate a theory
that answers the question: What is the
anthropological origin of the human kiss? It is a
nurturing behavior designed to feed pre-
masticated food to infants and small children
with baby teeth and weak jaw muscles. The
behavior is an adaptation for survival of the
human species.
13. (Apply) How can you apply your theory about the
anthropological origins of the kiss to explain the
difference in people’s lips? If kiss-feeding is an
adaptation for species survival, and structure
defines function, then the members of the human
communities whose lips function in kiss-feeding,
should have lips structurally adapted to the task.
14. (Recognize) Who in natural human communities is
most likely to be involved in the nurturing behavior
of kiss-feeding? We saw examples of mothers and
a sister in the video, but in other offspring-
nurturing behaviors the individual with the body
parts (uterus, breasts) to do the nurturing of the
offspring does the nurturing. In seahorses, the
male broods the offspring because he’s got the
pouch for it.
15. (Infer) What would you infer to be true about the
lips of those adapted for kiss-feeding? Lips that
are proportionally fuller, more supple, and
thinner-skinned in order to be more sensitive to
the touch should be better for kiss-feeding. Being
thinner-skinned should also make them appear
redder, like women’s lips seem to be.
16. (Support) What further evidence is there that
supports the conclusion that having fuller, more
thin-skinned, and therefore redder and more
sensuous lips (which are better adapted for the kiss-
feeding of children) is a feminine characteristic?
Both women and men demonstrate behaviors
that accentuate their masculine or feminine
characteristics, especially to attract attention
from members of the opposite sex. Women wear
lipstick to make their lips look fuller and redder,
and to draw attention to them. Women will even
sometimes endure plastic surgery if they feel
their lips aren’t full enough, etc.