The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex — John Shaqi
The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to SexDarwin, Charles
History
The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex
Darwin, Charles
Evolution (Biology); Human beings -- Origin; Sex differences; Sexual dimorphism (Animals); Sexual selection in animals
These men are so thoroughly acclimatised to their cold and lofty abode,
that when formerly carried down by the Spaniards to the low eastern
plains, and when now tempted down by high wages to the gold-washings,
they suffer a frightful rate of mortality. Nevertheless Mr. Forbes
found a few pure families which had survived during two generations:
and he observed that they still inherited their characteristic
peculiarities. But it was manifest, even without measurement, that
these peculiarities had all decreased; and on measurement, their bodies
were found not to be so much elongated as those of the men on the high
plateau; whilst their femora had become somewhat lengthened, as had
their tibiae, although in a less degree. The actual measurements may be
seen by consulting Mr. Forbes’s memoir. From these observations, there
can, I think, be no doubt that residence during many generations at a
great elevation tends, both directly and indirectly, to induce
inherited modifications in the proportions of the body. (35. Dr.
Wilckens (‘Landwirthschaft. Wochenblatt,’ No. 10, 1869) has lately
published an interesting essay shewing how domestic animals, which live
in mountainous regions, have their frames modified.)
Although man may not have been much modified during the latter stages
of his existence through the increased or decreased use of parts, the
facts now given shew that his liability in this respect has not been
lost; and we positively know that the same law holds good with the
lower animals. Consequently we may infer that when at a remote epoch
the progenitors of man were in a transitional state, and were changing
from quadrupeds into bipeds, natural selection would probably have been
greatly aided by the inherited effects of the increased or diminished
use of the different parts of the body.
ARRESTS OF DEVELOPMENT.
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