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Spatial ability, throwing accuracy and man's hunting heritage

Abstract

ATTENTION has recently been drawn1 to the indications that spatial ability—the ability to create, maintain and mentally transform a visual image1,2—has an X-linked recessive mode of inheritance in Caucasians1,3–8, with males having a proportionately greater facility1,9–12. At first glance, this result seems paradoxical in that such a presumably adaptive trait would not be expected to be transmitted on a recessive allele. If past selection pressures were exerted primarily on males, however in whom the spatial allele is co-dominant, the paradox would be resolved satisfactorily.

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KOLAKOWSKI, D., MALINA, R. Spatial ability, throwing accuracy and man's hunting heritage. Nature 251, 410–412 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1038/251410a0

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