Hacker News Reader

Comment by michaelhoffman | Hacker News Reader

> Reproductive organs are what evolutionary biologists would call a highly conserved system, meaning they don't tend to change often.

No. Reproductive genes are well-known for what evolutionary biologists (such as myself) call positive selection, meaning they tend to change more often than you would expect.

See, for example, https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v403/n6767/full/403304...

View on HN

Well, the author was talking about organs, not genes. Generally speaking the organ arrangement described in the article (external testes, internal ovaries) is pretty well conserved among placental land mammals even if genes related to other aspects of reproduction are not.

The author is wrong in saying that the testes are not protected, though. They're quite well-protected, with a leg on each side. Simple proof of this is that it's clear when these are damaged due to the pain, but most men will only experience this pain a couple of times in their life.

The testes are even more protected in quadrupeds, far away from any frontal fighting or sparring. And if you're a quadruped that is being chased by something that can damage your testes from behind, you have far bigger problems than damage to your testes.

Would anyone mind posting the PDF for those of us who can't afford it but would like to study it?

from scihub: http://moscow.sci-hub.cc/7d2cc404e2efff26c37a6dd544258956/wu...

Thanks!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com