Science Memes

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Deadication (mander.xyz)

submitted 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Would it be accurate to say that an adaptive trait is one selected by some evolutionary pressure, while a non-adaptive trait is just coincidence?

How could you tell if this trait was just very broad in it's application, say just the instinct to squeeze things, verses something completely coincidental?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Yeah, that's exactly right.
As for the second part, I'm not sure how to answer. Squeezing the partner is without a doubt adaptive, but squeezing anything that is roughly the same shape is a byproduct with no (strong) evolutionary pressure. Now, the question is whether functional necrophilia is adaptive or just a byproduct is very difficult to answer, but I lean towards byproduct.