Natural Selection and the Origin and Evolution of Weeping in Man
- 4 December 1959
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science
- Vol. 130 (3388) , 1572-1573
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.130.3388.1572
Abstract
Tearless crying in the young of early man, with an increased dependency period, would repeatedly have caused dehydration of the mucous membranes, and thus have rendered them vulnerable to the insults of the environment. Tears are bacteriostatic as well as moistening. The hypothesis is advanced that natural selection favored those infants who could produce tears, and that in this way the function became established in man.Keywords
This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- On a remarkable bacteriolytic element found in tissues and secretionsProceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Containing Papers of a Biological Character, 1922