Re: Becoming altricial/bi
Paul Crowley (Paul@crowleyp.demon.co.uk)
Sun, 08 Oct 95 15:56:26 GMT
In article <60.3085.7295.0N1F7C7C@canrem.com>
j#d#.moore@canrem.com "J. Moore" writes:
> Pa> Proposed experiment: Bind the feet of newborn apes and see what happens.
^^^^^^^
> Pa> What would be the survival rate in the wild?
> Pa> Paul.
>
> Probably not great, as they aren't bipedal and therefore would be
> forced to adopt an unnatural stance for long periods of time, as
> opposed to a bipedal hominid, who wouldn't be faced with this
> problem.
You missed the word "newborn" in the proposed experiment.
My point is that the mother would be quite unable to continue her
normal activity (with the infant attached). The infant would not be
able to cling to her. Would she just drop it? Would she deposit in
a safe place while foraging? Would she abandon it?
There's so much we don't think about. For example, infant apes
suckle at will. They just crawl around to the nipple. The experiment
would disrupt feeding patterns, probably dangerously.
I'm trying to force thought on the drastic behavioural modifications
on the *mother* required by bipedalism.
Paul.
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