Eli5 Why are women so much shorter than men?
In: 60
This is a trend in all the great apes – the males compete for dominance and to protect the troop and this has driven them to evolve considerable size and strength compared to females.
Human males don’t (usually) fight eachother directly for physical dominance anymore, but the evolutionary history is still there.
You can see it in all the great apes, dominant male gorillas and orangutans are twice the size of the females in their troop. Humans and chimpanzees are somewhat less dimorphic with males only slightly larger than females.
Latest Answers