Why do men have breasts?

[nohorn]

What is the evolutionary answer to why men have breasts? Do other male mammals have breasts?

[society]

All male mammals have nipples.

[fredpuli47]

All foetuses start as basically female.If there's no Y chromosome present in the embryo it stays female. If there is a Y chromosome the male hormone, testosterone, prevents it developing as a female and it develops as a male. The nipples remain.

[snags]

What about the third nipple... like Scaramanga had in The Man with the Golden Gun ;-o

[Sqad]

The male gametes or sperm cells in humans and other mammals are heterogametic and contain one of two types of sex chromosomes. They are either X or Y. The female gametes or eggs however, contain only the X sex chromosome and are homogametic. The sperm cell determines the sex of an individual in this case. If a sperm cell containing an X chromosome fertilizes an egg, the resulting zygote will be XX or female. If the sperm cell contains a Y chromosome, then the resulting zygote will be XY or male.

i.e....the sex of the individual is defined at conception as described above.

Why do men have breasts and nipples?............nobody knows.

[Sqad]

snags

http://en.wikipedia.o.../Supernumerary_nipple

"Good evening Mr. Bond"

[daffy654]

I knew a bloke with 3 nipples many years ago,his nickname was triple nipple (unsurprisingly).

[Sqad]

daffy....LOL

[fredpuli47]

Polythelia is having an extra nipple. Scaramanga is an example of someone with the condition. It's a defect in the embryonic stage and occurs quite commonly.

[beso]

A second row of vestigial nipples is not uncommon in women. But they do usually come in pairs. I have not hearsd of three.

The genes that make nipples are much the same in all mammals. Thry just express in different numbers. Cows usually have four but often have extra pairs of nipples behind the main ones. Goats have two but the vestigial nipples can be seen behind them. The extent of their development is dependent on other genes.

[mibn2cweus]

With that question apparently resolved might I ask, "Why do woman have . . . " oh never mind.

http://www.madsci.org...7/861311884.Me.r.html

[Sqad]

mibn2....to pack into sexy bras for further attention.

[mibn2cweus]

sqad, I take it the link didn't open for you. If you can tear your gaze away from the obvious for a moment and look a little further down there's a small (`) detail you might have missed. 8^)

[craft1948]

I've been out with a bloke who had 3 nipples.........it was approx 6 inches below his left nipple and smaller...

[nohorn]

Thank you for all your answers; fascinating info!