Fula eyes: iris color, shape and epicanthic fold in 40 observed portraits

Fula: iris color Very dark brown / black-appearing in 89% of 38; eye shape Almond in 83% of 40; upper eyelid crease type Double, low (~3-5mm above lash line) in 94% of 36; epicanthic fold Absent in 100% of 40; palpebral fissure slant Horizontal in 45% of 40; eyebrow shape Soft arch in 95% of 41.

  • Fula catalog portrait, AI-generated, eyes in view

Catalog portraits for Fula are AI-generated adult subjects; the measurements on this page come from documented photographs of real people, not from these images.

Iris color

n = 38 assessable · 3 not assessable

Predominant color of the iris. Heterochromia is captured as its own value; mixed colors (e.g. hazel, blue-green) get distinct buckets.

ValueSharen
Very dark brown / black-appearingIris appears nearly black under typical lighting; high melanin content. Common in East Asian, South Asian, Sub-Saharan African, and indigenous populations.89%34
dark brown11%4

Vocabulary: Iris color (iris_color_qualitative)

Eye shape

n = 40 assessable

Overall shape of the visible eye, considering the silhouette of the upper and lower lid margins together. Independent dimension from eyelid_crease_type and epicanthic_fold, which capture finer morphological variation.

ValueSharen
AlmondSlightly elongated horizontal axis; mild taper at lateral and medial canthi. Considered the aesthetic reference shape.83%33
RoundVertical and horizontal axes approximately equal; minimal canthal taper. Visible sclera above and below the iris.10%4
Deep-setEye sits deep within the orbital socket; pronounced shadow above the upper lid. Brow ridge typically prominent.8%3

Vocabulary: Eye shape (eye_shape_qualitative)

Upper eyelid crease type

n = 36 assessable

Morphology of the upper eyelid supratarsal crease. The single most ethnically-variant periocular dimension. The Asian-ophthalmology / Asian-blepharoplasty literature provides the canonical classification system, distinguishing several functional and aesthetic patterns.

ValueSharen
Double, low (~3-5mm above lash line)Crease present but sits low on the lid, close to the lash line. Common in East Asian populations with double lids.94%34
Single eyelid (monolid, no crease)No visible supratarsal crease; smooth upper lid skin. Approximately 50% of East Asian populations.3%1
Double, medium (~6-9mm)Mid-position crease; common reference range for European-population eyelids.3%1

Vocabulary: Upper eyelid crease type (mccurdy_chen_eyelid_crease)

Epicanthic fold

n = 40 assessable

Presence and morphology of the epicanthic fold — the skin fold of the upper eyelid that may cover the medial canthus. Significant ethnic variation; high prevalence in East Asian, Central Asian, and indigenous American populations.

ValueSharen
AbsentNo epicanthic fold; medial canthus clearly visible.100%40

Vocabulary: Epicanthic fold (duke_elder_epicanthus_classification)

Palpebral fissure slant

n = 40 assessable

Angle of the palpebral fissure axis (line from medial to lateral canthus) relative to horizontal. Significant ethnic variation; East Asian populations average steeper upslant than European populations.

ValueSharen
HorizontalLateral canthus at the same level as medial canthus; axis approximately 0°.45%18
Slight downslantLateral canthus slightly below medial; visible fatigue or aging appearance.43%17
Slight upslantLateral canthus slightly higher than medial; ~5-10° above horizontal. Within the European aesthetic reference range.13%5

Vocabulary: Palpebral fissure slant (fissure_axis_qualitative)

Eyebrow shape

n = 41 assessable

Overall arch and shape of the eyebrow as visible in the photograph.

ValueSharen
Soft archGentle, gradual arch; arch peak in the lateral two-thirds.95%39
Flat / descendingNo arch; brow descends laterally toward the temple.5%2

Vocabulary: Eyebrow shape (eyebrow_shape_qualitative)

Where these numbers come from

41 publicly documented portraits of notable Fula people were assessed by a vision model against the full 22-vocabulary schema, one value per dimension. Values are what the photographs show, read by a model, not population measurements. Each table counts only portraits where the value could be assessed; covered, obscured and unclear portraits are reported separately.

Notable-people corpora skew older, so hair color over-represents gray and white, and image quality varies. Treat shares as a description of this sample.

These rows are not yet in the published catalog dataset, which currently carries the earlier single-row analysis; see the methodology. A family page exists only when at least 10 portraits carry an assessable value.