>Analysis of the literature showed that the presence of the median artery has been significantly increasing (p = .001) over time, from approximately 10% in peop

>Analysis of the literature showed that the presence of the median artery has been significantly increasing (p = .001) over time, from approximately 10% in people born in the mid-1880s to approximately 30% by the end of the 20th century. That is incredibly fast! That's three generations and change, which I find suspicious... if it indeed is progressing at that rate then I would be quite shocked to learn that the cause is purely genetic. As another comment noted, "It’s enough that there is no decrease in the success of the offspring really. They don’t have to be more successful, just not less" - except for the prevalence to change that rapidly is very unusual. In the famous story of the peppered moths, the first black moth was collected 1811, they were about 50/50 in 1864, and they were at 98% in 1895. It took until 2003 for the melanic phenotype to fall to around 10%. A peppered moth generation is one year, versus a human's twenty-seven, and the reproductive pressure was massive (a white moth on black trees can't hide and is easily eaten by birds; I can't imagine anything similar for humans.) Also quite interesting for the HN audience: >persistent median artery has been suggested to cause pain in carpal tunnel syndrome (Barfred et al., 1985; Lisanti et al., 1995)