When my daughter was about two, my dad came to visit, and showed a professionally done portrait photo to my wife and I. We looked at it, and wondered where and when he could have possibly had our daughter's picture taken.
It took us several seconds to realize that he was showing us a photo of my aunt (his little sister) from sixty years ago. I was stunned at the resemblance. My daughter was a dead ringer for her.
That is exactly what I am talking about. I have long suspected that we recreate the image of our ancestors (Unknown to us) generation after generation. We actually look like someone in our past, but we are too far separated in time to be aware of it.
Years ago we (members of a Gun Group) had invited a man who claimed to have been a direct descendant of Thomas Paine. He gave a very interesting speech about his ancestor's accomplishments and we were all inspired and entertained. He finished his speech by bringing out a copy of a portrait of Thomas Paine, and mentioning that people say he resembles his great and distant ancestor.
I looked at the portrait, and then I looked at him. I looked back at the portrait, and again I looked at him. I swear the man holding the portrait was identical in feature to the man *IN* the portrait. He looked like Thomas Paine to a "T." I was very impressed.
I think this happens all the time, but we simply don't get very many opportunities to compare various generations with their predecessors.