Explanations of known facts
What is the evolutionary purpose of differentiation into
female and male sex, right- and left hemispheres of the
brain, DNA and proteins, autosomes and sex chromosomes and
many others?
All of them are specializations into conservative and
operative aspects of evolution.
The dependence of sexual
dimorphism on the reproductive structure of the population.
Strict monogamous species use sex differentiation at the
organism level, rather than at the population one therefore
strict sexual dimorphism for these species it should be
minimal.
Molecular biology, genetics and selection
One of the three “sensations” of “Human genome” program: why
most mutations are in the Y-chromosome?
Y-chromosome is a gateway for new information.
Jumping genes: where and
why do they jump?
Why in birds the only one female X chromosome is condensed?
Why father’s genome imprinting occur two times more
frequently?
Asymmetric Y →
Х
crossing-over?
Autosomal location of “sex” genes: gametes, gonads and
genitalia?
Why placenta (female organ) is controlled by male’s genes,
while “common” embryo—by female’s genes?
Better selection properties for male sex in agricultural
animals and plants?
Dominance of a father on
divergent characters and of a mother on convergent ones?
Embryology
Right hemisphere control
of intrauterine development in humans. [Walker, 1980]
Bigger left side of an embryo? [Klimenko, 1984]
Embryogenesis is an old system
Why embryo sucks the
right thumb? [Hepper, 1991]
Sucking reflex is new and therefore is controlled by the
left hemisphere
Anatomy
Sexual dimorphism in plants — shape of leaves or branch
patterns (there is no struggle for or choice by the female
plant)?
“The “reversed” sexual size
dimorphism of predatory birds, bats, rabbits, flying
squirrels, spotted hyenas, dwarf mongooses, some whales and
seals. [Mueller and Meyer, 1985]
Physiology
Why do women have better
verbal abilities?
Conservative/Operative specialization is also specialization
on internal (inside the population) and external (with
environment) relationships. Language and verbal abilities
are important for internal communications.
— men have better
visual-spatial abilities?
More developed spatial
abilities of men are related to their more advanced,
evolutionary later ipsilateral visual pathways providing
stereoscopy.
— women have better sense of
smell?
The sense of smell is decreasing.
Demography
Why do women usually live
longer than men, but men are “champions” in the duration of
life?
High birth- and death- rate
of males and left-handed people under extreme conditions?
Excessive birth-rate of boys
during wars ("phenomenon of war years"), in harems and
textile cities?
Excessive birth-rate of girls
in expeditions and port cities?
Negative
feedback of sex ratio regulation
Teratology
Why some congenital
anomalies are more
frequently occur in boys while others—in girls?
— twice as much boys are born
with one kidney, and 2.5-fold more girls—with three kidneys?
— congenital hip luxation is
four times more frequent in girls, and the left side is the
most
frequently affected (60%)?
— patent ductus
arteriosus, Lutembacher disease, and ostium secundum are
more frequent in women?
— aortal stenosis,
coarctation of aorta, and transpositions of the great
arteries are more frequent in men?
Pathology
Why many diseases not related to reproductive functions or
organs strike men and women differently?
— gout and ulcer are predominantly occur in man, but
holecystitis, diabetes, varicose and arthritis — in females?
— tong, throat, esophagus, and stomach tumors occur more
frequently in men, but thyroid and gull bladder ones — in
females?
— atherosclerosis, cancer, coronary diseases, schizophrenia
are predominantly occur in man?
— all “new” diseases, diseases of civilization and
urbanization (atherosclerosis, cancer, coronary diseases,
schizophrenia) are predominantly occur in man?
— men are more frequently damaged by immune deficit diseases
(such as AIDS), while women—by autoimmune
diseases (such as arthritis)?
Psychology
Why men are either very clever or really stupid?
High phenotypic variation of males.
— men have problems working on precision assembly lines
(watches, electronics etc).
— do we have much more men in mathematics, science, music,
composition, painting and book writing?
—
women rarely become inventors?
Men solve new tasks better, but imperfectly, while women —
familiar ones, but perfectly.
Sociology
Why men
are more vulnerable to all social vices (alcohol, tobacco,
drugs and gambling), but they damage women more severely?
For example there are 3 times more men-alcoholics, but women
die 3 times more frequently from alcoholic cirrhosis.
Many men already have enzymes necessary to utilize calories
from ethanol.
Anthropology
Four types of male
skulls and only one type of female skulls in Bashkir
population.
Why dermatoglyphics
of Bulgarian males is similar to Turkish type, while that of
Bulgarian females—to Lithuanian type?
Laterality
Why apes
reach for and grasp food with the left hand, but manipulate (open bolts,
turn nuts) with the right hand? [MacNeilage,
1987; Beck, Barton, 1972; Ettlinger, 1961; Ettlinger, Moffett, 1964;
Milner, 1969; Gautrin, 1970; Tokuda, 1957, 1963, 1969]
— grasping reflex of newborns is stronger on the left?
— right-handedness on
“instrumental” functions is higher than on “noninstrumental”?
Old and new characters
— siamangs, chimpanzees,
orangutans, and gorillas prefer the right foot for beginning
terrestrial movement? [MacNeilage, 1987]
— ovulation in dolphins
occurs predominantly on the left ovary?
— only the left nostril of
sperm whale is primarily associated with breathing?
Right organs
usually acquire new functions, while left organs keep the
old ones.
— backs of penguin chicks
blacken, and of beluga calves (Huso huso) brighten from the
head?
Effect of
‘nose-tail’ asymmetry
— there are 4-8 times more boys among the left handers,
stutterers, cross-eyed, and dyslexics (deviations
associated with brain asymmetry)? []
— are the proportions of left-handed individuals higher
among both geniuses and imbeciles?
— righthandedness and leftfootedness of Homo Sapiens?
— handedness is correlated with sex (for each woman there is
among the ambidextrous about 0.5 men,
among right-handers about 0.9 men, and among
left-handers about 5.0 men)? [Briden, 1987]
— at ages from 6 to 12
years the right femur is larger, and after 13 — the left
one? [G. von Bonin, 1962]
— the heart is displaced to
the left?
During lung
development, the right lung appeared first and pushed
centrally positioned heart to the left. When after many
generations the left lung appeared, the place was already
taken. Therefore the right lung has three lobes, while the
left one only two.
Brain:
— men have more asymmetric brain? [McGlone, 1980]
The evolution of the brain goes from symmetry to asymmetry.
— the right cortex is “closer” to subcortex as a whole than
the left one? [W.Heller, 1993].
The right hemisphere and subcortex are conservative
subsystems, the left hemisphere and cortex the operative
ones. Since the lateral differentiation is older than the
cortical one, the brain subsystems form the following
sequence: right subcortex - left subcortex - right cortex -
left cortex. Consequently, from the information viewpoint
the right cortex is “closer” to subcortex as a whole than
the left one. The right sub cortex is the most “ancient” and
“removed from environment” subsystem, the left cortex is the
most “new” and “closest to the environment” one.
— high prevalence of aphasia and apraxia in women with
lesions of the anterior brain and in men with lesions of the
posterior brain? [Kimura, 1992].
Can be explained by the superposition of two dimorphisms
(gradients), sexual and frontal-occipital: in the male sex
and the anterior brain, all changes appear earlier than in
the female sex and the posterior brain, respectively.
Vision:
— the left eye is more
sensitive to simple signals (flash of light), and right
eye—to complex ones (words, numbers)?
[Klimenko,
1984]
Old and new stimuli
— the left eye is more
sensitive to common words, and right eye—to brand names? []
Old and new words
Hearing:
— the left ear is more
sensitive to nature sounds (noise of rain and sea, barking
of the dog, cough), and right ear—to semantic ones (words,
numbers)?
[Blumstein et al, 1975; Curry, 1967; Harris, 1978]
The first are older than the second
— for dichotic vocal signals
the right ear was preferred at first, after a week, the left
ear?
[Springer,
Deutch, 1983]
Sense of touch:
— the left hand better
recognizes familiar objects, while right hand— unknown ones?
[Witelson, 1985;
Klimenko,
1984]
Old and new objects
Why do some diseases more often affect left organs, and
others—the right organs?
— varicose strikes women more frequently and from the left
side, and gout—males and from the right side?
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