Kevin Cordle

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Why is concealed ovulation peculiar to Homo sapiens? There may be adaptive purposes for the concealment; if a man cannot be sure when a woman is ovulating, he cannot be certain that a child is his own unless he sticks with one female constantly. If ovulation were obvious, an alpha male could simply have sex with every ovulating female, spreading his genes widely but not sticking around to invest in the offspring. Thus, concealed ovulation has led humans to form more long-lasting pair bonds and enhanced paternal investment in the offspring. But here, too, a feature of our bodies is also a ...more
Human Errors: A Panorama of Our Glitches, from Pointless Bones to Broken Genes
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