sentences:  Since apo(a)/Lp(a) appeared rather recently in mammalian evolution – only old world monkeys and humans have been shown to harbour Lp(a) – its function might not be vital, but just evolutionarily advantageous under certain environmental conditions, e.g.in case of exposure to certain infectious diseases.Another possibility, suggested by Linus Pauling, is that Lp(a) is a primate adaptation to L-gulonolactone oxidase (GULO) deficiency, found only in certain lines of mammals.