3 ms·

I would guess it's just a genetic glitch and not some conscious decision or purposeful design.

• daveguy 5y ago
  It doesn't have to be a conscious decision or purposeful design to be "there for a reason". Evolution tends toward solutions because the population that happens to be closer to a solution are more likely to survive. Nothing the op said was incompatible with evolution.
  • alisonkisk 5y ago
    Evolution doesn't have "reasons" (pre hoc is random mutation) but it has "justifications" (post hoc is natural selection).
  • samhw 5y ago
    In addition to that, it's certainly not a 'glitch'. A genetic glitch would be a (possibly short-lived) mutation which is still in the 'beta' phase, so to speak, or else a harmful side effect of an otherwise beneficial mutation (e.g. albinism). This is a paradigmatic example of an ordinary useful mutation which persisted because it increased fitness.