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Our ancient primate ancestors mostly had twins — humans don't, for a good evolutionary reason

Live Science
Summary
Nutrition label

81% Informative

Twins were the norm much further back in primate evolution, rather than an unusual occurrence worthy of note.

Modern humans overwhelmingly birth just a single child with an even larger head.

The switch from birthing twins to singletons occurred early on, at least 50 million years ago, authors say.

Tesla Monson is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Western Washington University in Bellingham , WA .

Her lab researches primate evolution, life history, reproductive ecology and the growth and development of the skeletal system.

Despite these risks, our research shows that twins are a critical part of our genetic history.

VR Score

92

Informative language

97

Neutral language

49

Article tone

informal

Language

English

Language complexity

58

Offensive language

not offensive

Hate speech

not hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

not detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

long-living