2 ms·
The scrotum has all the marks of successive bad, hacky evolutionary patching. Problem: Warm-bloodedness means the testicles are now too warm to work well. Hac
by Turing_Machine 5y ago
The scrotum has all the marks of successive bad, hacky evolutionary patching.
Problem: Warm-bloodedness means the testicles are now too warm to work well.
Hack #1: Hang them on the outside of the body so they can stay cooler.
New problem resulting from first hack: Now they're much easier to damage.
Hack #2: Make them hurt really bad if they get bashed, so the owner takes great care to guard them.
The proper solution would have to make them more temperature-tolerant in the first place.
Interestingly, ovaries didn't go down this road, though there are certainly some suboptimal designs in that whole system as well.
- sebmellen 5y agoDon’t forget, they can also torse and twist (just like ovaries, I might add).
- domino24 5y agoI guess we humans are still an evolutionary work in progress. :D
- hypertele-Xii 5y agoShudder to think what evolutionary completion looks like...
- tibbydudeza 5y ago> Interestingly, ovaries didn't go down this road A fixed quantity of viable eggs within prime child bearing years until menopause when women would then perform other roles within the community.