To Balteus, or not to Balteus...

[Tarbicus]

My argument is based on logic and on an theory by Prof. Dr. Otto Koenig on the development of uniform and dress.
In short, this theory holds that Dollo's Law on the development of species works the same way as the development of dress. For instance features are not dropped when they become useless. Instead they survive as embellishments and gradually deform by becoming smaller of larger. They disappear quickly only when they become a nuisance or a liability. Also, once dropped a feature does not simply reappear.

Interesting Rob, thanks. I just did a quick Google and found this PDF, 'Konrad Z. Lorenz - Nobel Lecture':
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medi ... ecture.pdf

"It is, however, surprising that the same retention of historical features, not only independently of function, but in clear defiance of it, is observable even in that part of human culture which one would suppose to be free of symbolism, ritualization and sentimental conservativism, namely in technology. Fig. 5 illustrates the development of the railway carriage. The ancestral form of the horse-drawn coach stubbornly persists, despite the very considerable difficulties which it entails, such as the necessity of constructing a runningboard all along the train, on which the conductor had to climb along, from compartment to compartment, exposed to the inclemency of the weather and to the obvious danger of falling off. The advantages of the alternative solution of building a longitudinal corridor within the carriage are so obvious that they serve as a demonstration of the amazing power exerted by the factors tending to preserve historical features in defiance of expediency."