Re: AAT: Closing Argument

jamesb@hgu.mrc.ac.uk
18 Oct 1995 15:33:05 GMT

JF Dullaart <jfd@its.uct.ac.za> wrote:
>
>Women need extra bouyancy in an watery environment to help them cope with
>young children, and they have therefore evolved breasts which can be
>regarded as life a form of built life preserving floats.
>

I don't completely agree that breasts are bouyancy devices. I think that
female breast shape is a consequence of hairlessness. The baby can no
longer grab hold of the body hair and pull itself to the nipple, so the
nipple must be lowered to the baby's mouth and suspended on a dollopy
base that the baby can grab hold of. Dugongs and sea-cows have similar
breast-shapes to human females, presumably as a consequence of their
nudity, back in the days when the baby dugongs still had hands.

James Borrett.