Why babies cry so loud, as the noise can potentially attract predators in the wild?
In: Biology
That is an incredibly low risk event, since babies are kept on the mother at almost all times in tribal or hunter/gatherer societies. There was no special crib in a dark room with a sound machine; they were just strapped to the back (or front) and carried around for the first few years. So any cry would quickly result in a tit in the mouth or a change (they generally just cry if hungry or wet).
Predators stalking humans did much better with kids that were toddlers and older who could run out into the bush and suddenly find themselves alone. There weren’t many predators that would try to infiltrate a human camp. Lone human? Sure. Tribe? No.
And the evolutionary advantage of being fed and otherwise attended to far, far outweighed the risk of being eaten.
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