Submitted by Level_Shift_7516 t3_10hqrx0 in askscience
MartiniBikini7777 t1_j5mqyei wrote
Reply to comment by mxjuno in Do other animals have dangerous pregnancies just like humans? by Level_Shift_7516
Have you heard of the silver fox experiment in Russia ? A man took wild foxes and within 10 generations changed them from wild animals to the equivalent of domesticated dogs. So with constant conditions, evolution can happen relatively quickly.
mxjuno t1_j5o9qej wrote
Definitely heard of it. I haven’t had as much time as I like to respond to comments but the most efficient way to say this is that we have not been selecting for characteristics that will create conditions for more dangerous or difficult births in such a concentrated way.
We are selecting for babies and moms who will survive the process of gestation and birth, which has changed in a way more nuanced way (ie we have lost some ways of moving and feeding ourselves which create more dangerous birth conditions, and we have gained a lot of tools that have increased survival of pregnancy and birth). That won’t change the mortality rates of pregnancy and birth in a huge way within a few generations of c sections and other more modern interventions.
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