According to a new study, chimpanzees, like humans, must contend with a confined bony birth canal when giving birth. In humans, the problem was exacerbated by our unique form of upright walking since this led to a twisting of the bony birth canal, while the fetal head got larger.
The 'obstetrical dilemma' therefore evolved gradually over the course of primate evolution rather than suddenly in humans as originally argued.
An international team of researchers led by Nicole M. Webb of the Senckenberg Research Institute and Martin Haeusler of the Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, simulated birth in chimpanzees and humans and quantified the space between the bony birth canal and the fetal head. The study shows that narrow birth canals in relation to the infant head size are not unique to humans.
Scientists have identified the biochemical signals that control the emergence of the body pattern in the primate embryo. This will guide work to understand birth defects and pregnancy loss in ...
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