All known hominins have smaller canines than our closest living relatives, the chimpanzees and bonobos. Among some of our early hominin relatives, such as Australopithecines afarensis, we see quite a large difference in body size between males and females. But species in the genus Homo start to show a level of sexual dimorphism similar to our own.
Why is it an important trait for becoming human?
Since reduced sexual dimorphism correlates with less aggression between males, it is likely to be associated with greater cooperation within a population and probably made the development of successful societies and civilisations much easier.
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