4 ms·
> an arms race between the placenta and the womb, and rather than a safe place to protect the fetus, the womb is more of a safe place to isolate the fetus and m
by fifnir 8y ago
> an arms race between the placenta and the womb, and rather than a safe place to protect the fetus, the womb is more of a safe place to isolate the fetus and manage its access to the mother's resources while keeping the mother safe.
I don't see anything human-specific here, this would have been true for all placental animals no?
- mcv 8y agoIt doesn't sound inherently human-specific, but somehow it is. Well, other primates have it to a lesser extent, but other placental mammals don't, and we have it worse than other primates. Why only primates have this arms race between placenta and womb, and why humans have it worse than any primate, I don't know. But it's definitely a thing. It's the reason why humans menstruate while non-primate mammals don't.
- fifnir 8y agoInteresting, I did some more digging and found this for anyone interested in a nice paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5121266/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5121266/