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framework

Costly son hypothesis

Proposal in comparative reproductive biology that the larger average size of male newborns raises obstructed-labour risk for mothers and offspring across placental mammals.

Known aliases

  • 'costly son' hypothesis

Relationships

No evidence-backed relationships are recorded.

Current clusters

science1 publisher

A 140-species review puts fetal sex inside the obstetrical dilemma

Male newborns are the heavier sex in most placental mammals the authors surveyed, which makes birth risk unequal for sons and daughters. Whether that inequality causes obstructed labour is still untested outside humans and farm animals.

Publishers:phys.org

Reality

Evidence62
Adoption
Insufficient
Hype gap+12
Incentives
Insufficient
Confidence55