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From: Ernest Major <{$to$}@meden.demon.co.uk>
Newsgroups: talk.origins
Subject: Re: Why all apes including humans do not have tails
Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2024 23:05:23 +0100
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On 05/04/2024 22:07, DB Cates wrote:
> 
>> Not to mention the article suggests tail loss could be associated with 
>> neural tube defects, which would definitely make drift much less likely.
>>
> Could you be more explicit here?

I think that the idea is that a mutation associated with neural tube 
defects is under strong enough negative selection that it would be fixed 
by drift, and therefore there must be a countervailing selective 
advantage to the mutation (and also selection for compensatory mutations 
preventing the neural tube defects).

On the other had, the mutation has been shown to be associated with 
neural tube defects in one genetic background. Assuming that the 
association carries over to other genetic backgrounds is a leap.

-- 
alias Ernest Major