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http://neurosciencenews.com/evolution-hands-fighting-2917/
"As an alternative, we suggest that the hand proportions that allow the formation of a fist may tell us something important about our evolutionary history and who we are as a species," Carrier adds. "If our anatomy is adapted for fighting, we need to be aware we always may be haunted by basic emotions and reflexive behaviors that often don't make sense – and are very dangerous – in the modern world," says biology Professor David Carrier.
Carrier and his collaborators not only have argued our hands evolved partly for punching but that the faces of human ancestors, the australopiths, evolved to resist punching – and that human faces became more delicate as our violence became less dependent on brute force. The new study sought more experimental evidence for his theory using nine male cadaver arms purchased from the university's body donor program and from a private supply company.
Shoryuken!
(Score: 2) by sjames on Monday October 26 2015, @07:56PM
Why would they be? The jaw would evolve parallel to the fist. The jaw would tend to become stronger since a broken jaw would be a bigger survival disadvantage than a broken hand.
To confound things, someone who was too quick to punch might have even greater survival problems due to being exiled (who likes to get punched all the time?). so the negative feedback of continuing pain in the hand would tend to curb that tendency conferring more advantage than disadvantage overall.