Being peculiarly sensitive to baby news, I picked up a conversation here in the office about why babies look like their fathers...
Because the maternity is never in doubt, it is important to fathers that the paternity is clear - otherwise they may end up supporting another man's child. So the child looks like its Dad, to establish paternity.
On the other hand, would it not be better for the child to look like its mother, so that all babies might be the father's child?
Presumably both strategies have been tried (by babies, so to speak), and the paternal lookey-likey strategy works best. Richard Dawkins probably has something to say on the topic: anyone have the relevant passage from Professor D?
Because the maternity is never in doubt, it is important to fathers that the paternity is clear - otherwise they may end up supporting another man's child. So the child looks like its Dad, to establish paternity.
On the other hand, would it not be better for the child to look like its mother, so that all babies might be the father's child?
Presumably both strategies have been tried (by babies, so to speak), and the paternal lookey-likey strategy works best. Richard Dawkins probably has something to say on the topic: anyone have the relevant passage from Professor D?
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