Why Do We Have Eyebrows?

Eyebrows fulfill a physiological function and also play a social role. In physiological terms, the eyebrow deflects sweat drops from going into the eyes and also can help divert rain water, which again could go into the eyes. Whilst this may not be dangerous to the eyes it would certainly be uncomfortable.
However, eyebrows can also act as a way of sending out 'social signals'. We can often read someone's face from a distance and if they are smiling, we can confirm if this is a genuine smile, by looking at the position of thier eyebrows. If the eyebrows are raised slightly, then the smile is genuine. If they are static, then the smile is false. Also if someone's eyebrows are bent together, we can usually tell that they are angry.
Eyebrow signalling of many kinds is very common within primates as a whole, so they too can guage someone's mood or intentions (i.e. friend or foe) through eyebrow signals.

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