Why do men's breasts also have ... nipples?

Women have to breastfeed. But what about men, what is the purpose of that knob?

For centuries, people had to find answers to the question: "What is the male nipple used for?"

Not only in humans, but also males in many other animals. If you are a woman, you can understand that it is an important tool to perform the role of motherhood. But for men and males, that solution doesn't seem right.

Not only humans, so do other animals.

"I have received dozens of questions about why evolution can leave such a useless thing, " says evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould in a scientific journal in 1993.

In general, men basically do not have milk and do not have to breastfeed - regardless of cases of hormonal disorders. But if so, in the end, what is the existence of those two nipples?

Not necessarily the fault of evolution

To answer briefly, the male nipples are probably not the product of evolution but a trace of the embryo.

It seems that the knob is something that the creature seems to be too "lazy" to remove, or even not be able to do it.

" Nipples are things that still exist in the process of forming embryos of animals, " Gould said.

According to Gould, whether male or female, male or female, all are the same when they were still embryos. But when the chromosome (chromosome) XX and / or XY start to act, they form the SRY gene in the first few weeks. This gene plays a role in activating other genes, helping the embryo develop in one of two directions: male or female.

When we were embryos, we had mammary glands

The problem here is that the mammary gland develops very early, before SRY appears. So, before embryos become male or female fetuses, we all have two nipples already.

More importantly, having nipples is not a burden for men. Gould said, it is likely that the evolution process has been worn without bothering to formulate a mechanism to eliminate it.

In summary, evolution is a relatively complex and complicated process, but the goal is to fit in with the changing environment. If a trait does not bring a burden, even if it is excessive, it will not be eliminated.