Women have a lot of eggs because they lose them every month/year, if it was less than hundreds of thousands, no women would have eggs by 40, also its evolutionarily impossible to produce eggs, while things like freezing them are possible, it’s only a delay but won’t stop anything.
This reduces the possibility of mutations from the environment or other influences. All the eggs are developed while the fetus develops – then the 5-7 million oocytes already start dying off, and she’s only born with about 2 million.
That 2 million is a relatively low number, compared to the 100 – 300 million sperm cells a man produces every day of his post-puberty life. She doesn’t need to devote any energy or resources to reproductive cells. She can conserve until needed for gestation.
They only put out one or two every month that they are not pregnant or breastfeeding in adulthood. That is, maybe, 500 eggs max. There is simply no need to be producing more eggs than the first batch.
Meanwhile, men make 200 million per day. And often use them up as fast as they make them.
A better question is answered by saying that men have to make more. Women do not.
You mean like men do with their sperm? You do realise that the major cause of autism has been revealed to be older male sperm? Just because men can make sperm throughout their life does not mean that it is good sperm. The older the man then the more chances of mutations occurring in the formation of new sperm cells which then will carry on to any child created through that sperm and increasing the chances of autism and other mental defects.
Could you imagine what would happen if the same happened to women with their ova? Especially as the average ages of both fathers and mothers increases?
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There’s no “purpose”. Evolution doesn’t have some grand design. If a trait doesn’t meaningfully harm reproduction, it doesn’t get selected out.
Now would be a good time to mention that women don’t “run out” of eggs. Women still have hundreds of eggs when they enter menopause.
Women have a lot of eggs because they lose them every month/year, if it was less than hundreds of thousands, no women would have eggs by 40, also its evolutionarily impossible to produce eggs, while things like freezing them are possible, it’s only a delay but won’t stop anything.
This reduces the possibility of mutations from the environment or other influences. All the eggs are developed while the fetus develops – then the 5-7 million oocytes already start dying off, and she’s only born with about 2 million.
That 2 million is a relatively low number, compared to the 100 – 300 million sperm cells a man produces every day of his post-puberty life. She doesn’t need to devote any energy or resources to reproductive cells. She can conserve until needed for gestation.
They only put out one or two every month that they are not pregnant or breastfeeding in adulthood. That is, maybe, 500 eggs max. There is simply no need to be producing more eggs than the first batch.
Meanwhile, men make 200 million per day. And often use them up as fast as they make them.
A better question is answered by saying that men have to make more. Women do not.
maybe because as you age, childbirth becomes more and more dangerous for the mother?
You mean like men do with their sperm? You do realise that the major cause of autism has been revealed to be older male sperm? Just because men can make sperm throughout their life does not mean that it is good sperm. The older the man then the more chances of mutations occurring in the formation of new sperm cells which then will carry on to any child created through that sperm and increasing the chances of autism and other mental defects.
Could you imagine what would happen if the same happened to women with their ova? Especially as the average ages of both fathers and mothers increases?
Evolution is mindless, if you can survive long enough to have children, the system works.
I guess for the same reason babies are born with full size eyeballs. That’s right your eyes don’t grow with time.
It has the interesting feature that the egg that formed you was made in your grandmother’s body. This must have some evolutionary advantage.
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Natural Selection says “Good enough.”
bro, eggs are precious, bro
I don’t even want to think how tired and cranky I’d be if I had to create the eggs too when dropping them hurts like hell.
Why on earth would we expend the extra energy every month, when we already need more hours of sleep and more micronutrients than the average man?
And the hormonal shifts on our bodies are already constant and complex and exhausting?
Eff that.
What I want to know is why we don’t lay eggs and sit on them for 9 months. That seems much better than live births. /hj