Examining Mammalian facial behavior using Facial Action Coding Systems (FACS) and combinatorics.

ABSTRACT: There has been an increased interest in standardized approaches to coding facial movement in mammals. Such approaches include Facial Action Coding Systems (FACS), where individuals are trained to identify discrete facial muscle movements that combine to create a facial configuration. Some studies have utilized FACS to analyze facial signaling, recording the quantity of morphologically distinct facial signals a species can generate. However, it is unclear whether these numbers represent the total number of facial muscle movement combinations (which we refer to as facial configurations) that each species is capable of producing. If unobserved combinations of facial muscle movements are communicative in nature, it is crucial to identify them, as this information is important for testing resea

SUBMITTER: Mahmoud A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11771922 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature