Human babies develop so slowly compared to other species.. why? A baby giraffe practically gallops out of the womb but a human baby can’t hold its head up.. what aspects decipher the speed at which a newborn develops?
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> A baby giraffe practically gallops out of the womb
Meanwhile, kittens are born with their eyes closed — they’re also pretty useless.
Basically, prey animals (such as horses and giraffes) usually come out fully formed, as there might be a predator around.
While predator animals (such as cats) can afford to come out underdeveloped, since it’s less likely that someone is actively looking for them.
Though that’s not the only factor — another is whether the animal tends to have hidden burrows or not. For example, hares (which live out on the open) have young that can walk when they’re born, while the related rabbits (which live in burrows away from predators) are born helpless.
For humans, the second factor may be more important — we’re predators more than prey, but we’re also social animals where people can take care of newborns in a place where there is little danger from roaming predators.
Humans have big heads. In order for that head to fit though a woman’s pelvis the baby needs to be delivered before it gets too big and developed. Most quadraped newborns are longer and narrower and can develop further.
Well, that’s not actually a great explanation (what about Pandas?). The real explanation is that it’s what works. Humans have evolved to be smart and weak, while giraffes have evolved to be tall and fast. Different survival strategies.
We have enormous heads/brains. So we come out half-cooked so that our head can fit out our mothers’ wombs. If we waited longer, our heads would be way too big.
I forget where I heard it but one explanation is that human babies essentially have to be born a trimester early because of the size of our brain/heads. If a baby was born old enough to be semi-self sufficient they wouldn’t fit down the birth canal. (Jokes about that being at age 30, aside).
In addition, as a species humans have developed a society to care for young so there is little evolutionary pressure for self sufficiency at birth.
I also wouldn’t say babies are useless. They’re extremely effective at turning money into poop.
Appreciate you guys ❤️
I have heard that the more intelligent a species is, the longer it takes for them to walk/develop. I’m still developing and haven’t researched this at all
Relative to most species, human babies are all kinda born premature. The brain and skull are just so under-developed because they can’t get much bigger and still fit through the birth canal.
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