Modern Habsburg Jaw

A new report at smithsonian takes a look back at one of the most distinctive features of a royal family that once ruled much of europe over the course of several centuries.

Modern habsburg jaw. This distinctive habsburg jaw a new analysis published in the annals of human biology finds most likely resulted from inbreeding. The researchers led by geneticist román vilas from spain s. It is characterized by a jutting lower jaw that is often accompanied by an abnormally thick lower lip and sometimes a tongue that is abnormally large. The family in question is the habsburgs.

But while the line was intact this inbreeding caused this royal family to exhibit a number of peculiar physical traits especially one known as the habsburg jaw. The most salient indicator of the family s inbreeding the habsburg jaw is what doctors refer to as mandibular prognathism. Also called the habsburg lip and the austrian lip the habsburg jaw is a physical condition known by the modern term mandibular prognathism.