Document Detail


Mortality and fertility rates in humans and chimpanzees: How within-species variation complicates cross-species comparisons.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  19213006     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
A grandmother hypothesis may explain why humans evolved greater longevity while continuing to end female fertility at about the same age as do the other great apes. With that grandmother hypothesis in mind, we sought to compare age-specific mortality and fertility rates between humans and chimpanzees, our closest living relatives, and found two puzzles. First, we expected that lower adult mortality in humans would be associated with slower senescence, but the rate of chimpanzee demographic aging falls within the human range. Second, we expected declines in age-specific fertility to be similar in the two species but instead of falling in the thirties as it does in women, fertility remains high into the forties in some chimpanzee populations. We report these puzzles using data from nine human populations and both wild and captive chimpanzees, and suggest that systematic differences in the heterogeneity of surviving adults may explain them.
Authors:
Kristen Hawkes; Ken R Smith; Shannen L Robson
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council     Volume:  21     ISSN:  1520-6300     ISO Abbreviation:  Am. J. Hum. Biol.     Publication Date:    2009 Jul-Aug
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2009-06-16     Completed Date:  2009-09-30     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  8915029     Medline TA:  Am J Hum Biol     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  578-86     Citation Subset:  IM    
Copyright Information:
2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, 84112-0600, USA. hawkes@anthro.utah.edu
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Adult
Age Factors
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Animals
Evolution*
Female
Fertility / physiology*
Humans
Middle Aged
Models, Biological*
Mortality*
Pan troglodytes / physiology*
Species Specificity

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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