I’ve been meaning to get around to writing about female orgasms.
Philosopher of science Elizabeth Lloyd just published a new book in which she rejects the idea that they are an adaptation. Then a paper was just published tying variation in the experience of orgasms to genes.
Unfortunately, I’ve been hideously overworked this week. Fortunately, Elizabeth Lloyd herself is no stranger to the blogosphere, and she’s written an interesting post on the paper. Her conclusion: heritability does not equal adaptation, and some scientists need to think more carefully about the evolutionary implications of their work.
Originally published June 9, 2005. Copyright 2005 Carl Zimmer.