“The complexity of the story uncovered so far holds lessons about convergent evolution and how early mammals first got pregnant. Creatures may take the same steps, such as thinning eggshells, to get where they’re ultimately going. They’ll most likely co-opt genes involved in related functions to get there — which, in the case of pregnancy, would be genes already relevant to egg-laying and reproduction. “It can’t just appear out of nowhere,” says Recknagel. “It has to have a history.”
#Science #Pregnancy #Evolution
https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/living-world/2026/why-did-pregnancy-evolve-in-animals
#pregnancy — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #pregnancy, aggregated by home.social.
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🤰 NEW: Animals typically lay #eggs to reproduce, but live birth has evolved independently many times across diverse #vertebrate groups.
#Mammals made this reproductive transition once, while #squamates achieved it over 100 times. Scientists investigate the physiological hurdles, environmental pressures, and genetic adjustments required for #animals to retain embryos and give birth to live young.
👉 https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/living-world/2026/why-did-pregnancy-evolve-in-animals
#pregnancy #evolution #biology #wildlife #science #reptiles #sharks #genetics #nature #education #research #zoology #lizards #snakes