That’s the thing with natural selection though, as long as a trait isn’t deleterious and it’s common enough it’ll generally stick around. There’s no pressure for males to not have nipples.
Comment on Why do Orks from Warhammer 40K have nipples?
BreadOven@lemmy.world 2 months agoIt is. I wasn’t being specific enough, sorry. Actual use in terms of evolutionary fitness. There are no reasons for them evolutionarily other than they are a byproduct of fetal development.
Strider@thelemmy.club 2 months ago
BreadOven@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Totally agree with your point. But it’s also not something that will actively promote fitness.
Strider@thelemmy.club 2 months ago
Doesn’t matter. There’s no reason to not have nipples, and going down the evolution rabbit hole to change that isn’t worth the random mutations that are more likely to just straight up kill males during development or something. Your entire body is built on the concept of, “good enough to get the job done.” In biology fitness just means the ability to successfully reproduce, not actually who’s stronger or more efficient.
BreadOven@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Agreed. All about the ability to reproduce, not actual strength or “fitness” as most people would think of.
But yeah, they’re more or less vestigial as far as I’m concerned. Good point on it not worth getting rid of because that would probably be more detrimental (as you stated).
spankmonkey@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Anything that makes people hornier and more likely to procreate is an evolutionary advantage.
BreadOven@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I suppose you’re right. It’s not just things that help things live longer or thrive in a specific environment.