Humans as inverted bats: A comparative approach to the obstetric conundrum.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

The narrow human birth canal evolved in response to multiple opposing selective forces on the pelvis. These factors cannot be sufficiently disentangled in humans because of the limited range of relevant variation. Here, we outline a comparative strategy to study the evolution of human childbirth and to test existing hypotheses in primates and other mammals.

Methods

We combined a literature review with comparative analyses of neonatal and female body and brain mass, using three existing datasets. We also present images of bony pelves of a diverse sample of taxa.

Results

Bats, certain non-human primates, seals, and most ungulates, including whales, have much larger relative neonatal masses than humans, and they all differ in their anatomical adaptations for c

SUBMITTER: Grunstra NDS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6492174 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature