More Than Meets the Lips
We all know kissing can be magic. But the question is, why?
A kiss is just a kiss, right? Well, not exactly.
Kissing someone can be an intensely intimate exchange — conveying our deepest emotions when words can’t quite do the trick.
But why do we humans kiss? How did it all begin? And most importantly, what makes it so intensely amazing when the chemistry is right? Let’s dive into the lip lock.
First contact
One popular theory about kissing’s origins relates to how our ancient ancestors looked for food. Anthropologists say the most successful foragers were the best at detecting reddish colors, leading them to the ripest fruits and berries. Over many generations, this skill naturally evolved into the belief that “red equals reward.”
So wherever a shade of red popped up, our primate ancestors perked up. One of the most obvious places it could be seen was on the backsides of females — whose rear ends turned bright crimson when they were ready to mate.
In his book The Naked Ape: A Zoologist’s Study of the Human Animal, zoologist Desmond Morris suggested that in much the same way, a woman’s lips evolved to signal sexual receptiveness.
