![]() ![]() If animals are compelled to pass on their genes, you’d expect they’d prefer to produce offspring with a relative than to not reproduce at all.īut there could also be a more counter-intuitive reason behind some animal inbreeding. One obvious scenario in which animals mate with their relatives is when there’s just no other option. So there are strong reasons for animals to avoid mating with a relative – but are there any situations where inbreeding might actually be beneficial? Mating with a relative How animal genes go into battle to dominate their offspring But when parents are related, there’s a higher chance that both parents will carry the same unhealthy genes, which the offspring must then inherit. Usually, if a parent carries a gene for a rare genetic disease, the other parent will carry the healthy version of that gene, which is then expressed in their offspring. This happens because half of the offspring’s genes come from each parent. Mating with a relative, on the other hand, increases the likelihood that parents will pass rare genetic diseases to their offspring. One of them is their degree of relatedness, but animals are also interested in the resources the partner can provide, and whether they carry desirable genes.Ĭhoosing an unrelated mate is attractive, seeing as it increases the genetic diversity of the resultant offspring. This may seem surprising or unsettling, but evolutionary theorists have pointed out for decades that inbreeding is not always bad – and that in some cases, for instance where mate choice is limited, it might even be beneficial.Īnimals account for a variety of factors when choosing a mate. We reviewed 40 years of scholarship on animal mate selection, and found that animals don’t tend to differentiate between relatives and non-relatives when choosing a mate. We’d expect to see the same attitude extend to animals, who may lack a social distaste for incest but are, in the end, subject to the same biological pressures to produce the fittest offspring – which we assume means breeding with an unrelated mate.īut our recent study has called this assumption into question. Mixing genes with a non-relative is beneficial because it increases genetic diversity, while genetic defects often occur in the offspring of related parents. It’s a strong social taboo, and it’s underpinned by sound biological reasoning. Sometimes I forget how long it’s been since I’ve showered.We humans tend to regard incest as deeply disturbing.My diet plan when I’m home alone consists of only allowing myself to eat what my kids have left over or dropped on the floor.I’m like Velma from Scooby Doo without my glasses and they’re Gucci! You better believe I washed them off and put them right back on. I dropped my glasses in the toilet as I was helping my son clean up.If those aren’t bad enough for you here are a few hall of famers: Oh and once I went out in my dressy yoga pants and when I came home changed into my more comfortable hole in the crotch home yoga pants. Where did this weight come from! I looked so good in those pants yesterday! Oh, right I live my life in a deceiving yet flattering casing known as yoga pants. Of course on days when I have to go somewhere yoga pants aren’t appropriate and try squeezing into my jeans I’m shocked. ![]() I look fantastic in them and that secret stomach panel keeps everything where it should be like a set of bootleg Spanx. I know what you’re thinking and yes I really should get back to my 18% body fat pre kids shape, but until I have the time to spend two hours a day in the gym – again it isn’t happening. They’ve got to have the right cut, stretchy fabric, and some sort of stomach panel. I buy yoga pants with the precision and meticulous research normal people save for purchasing their first home. I know I’m not alone but I take yoga pants wearing to shameful new levels. Shameful? Maybe but I got some much needed sleep. She wasn’t carried away by a colony of ants in the middle of the night and I gave her a bath in the morning. I was exhausted and in no mood to endure the horrible shrill screams my daughter subjects me to during shampooing. I let my child sleep with some marshmallow fluff in her hair. Do I delay bedtime and wrangle two cranky kids into the tub alone, or go about my business as if nothing happened? That’s right. My two-year old daughter rubbed the marshmallow fluff into her hair like candy shampoo while my three-year old soon gleefully cheered her on.Īs I picked the large chunks out of her hair I checked the clock. They were seated and enjoying themselves so I seized the moment, left the room, and got to work on a pile of dishes. I thought it’d be super cute to make my children little mugs of hot chocolate with a dollop of marshmallow fluff on top after a few hours spent playing in the late autumn cold. Either way here are a few of my shameful mom confessions for your reading pleasure. ![]()
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