3 ms·
As usual, evolution means there might just be no reason, certainly not one that is reasonable.
by revelation 10y ago
As usual, evolution means there might just be no reason, certainly not one that is reasonable.
- bduerst 10y agoI was going to say this as well. Unless it's explicitly linked to surviving natural selection before reproduction, it's more likely that this finding is just a pointless by-product of another biomolecular pathway, even though it may have some discernible benefits. It's like trying to puzzle out why there are nipples on male mammals - it usually devolves to some creative stories and hand waving.
- omalleyt 10y agoWell, male nipples are spandrels https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spandrel_(biology) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spandrel_(biology) That is, they're useful for the female and not particularly harmful for the male, so they live on. It's also an instance of DRY (don't repeat yourself) "coding" in our DNA: basically males and females carry the same instructions, with a bunch of randomly interspersed if/else conditions that hinge on the presence of testosterone (coded for in the small Y chromosome)