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Btw, is there a evolutionary cost to creating lactase? Because, why do we stop with it usually and only keep it if it has huge advantages?
I would guess that humans have been around for what, 250k years? And that the vast majority of that didn't involve a whole lot of milk after age 4.
So it wouldn't have been to much advantage to be able to metabolize lactose.
No, there is, you get more from your cattle, and on a individual level, less likely to starve.
Keeping Lactase happened at least twice; north europe and a group in west africa.
Saudi Arabia too. I assume that camel milk came in pretty handy in early tribes surviving the deserts.
Sure, if you a) keep mammals around and b) drink their milk. I'm not convinced domesticated animals have been a thing for all that long, evolutionarily. Long enough for some groups to have adapted, sure. We have adaptations for cooked food, too.
[Searches] Cattle probably around 10k years ago.
Yes. It costs calories and nutrients.
But why then creating lactose in milk at all? Fat alone doesn't suffice?
It's easy to break down into glucose, which is important for bodily functions. Gluconeogenesis is a thing, but it is inefficient.