Losing their tails provided our ape ancestors with an evolutionary advantage

[Oxytropidoceras]

Losing their tails provided our ape ancestors with an evolutionary

advantage, but we're still paying the price

by Laurence D. Hurst, PhysOrg, The Conversation, March 3, 2024

 

The open access paper is:

 

Xia, B., Zhang, W., Zhao, G., Zhang, X., Bai, J., Brosh, R., Wudzinska,

A., Huang, E., Ashe, H., Ellis, G. and Pour, M., 2024. On the genetic

basis of tail-loss evolution in humans and apes. Nature, 626(8001),

pp.1042-1048.

 

Yours,

 

Paul H.

[JBkansas]

The news article seems to ignore the impact of our technology on ameliorating genetic conditions. Not sure if our mutation rate is actually higher than other animals or that we're more successful in saving the lives of individuals with those conditions.