Summary
The human female life history is characterised by several unusual features compared to other apes, including large babies, late puberty and a rapid reproductive rate, followed by the menopause. In this review I examine human life history from an evolutionary ecological perspective.
The evidence for life history trade-offs between fertility and mortality in humans is reviewed. Patterns of growth, fertility and mortality across the life span are illustrated with data from a traditional Gambian population. The stages of the human life course are outlined, followed by a discussion of the evolution of menopause — the curtailing of female reproduction long before death. The evidence that this stage evolved because investment in children’s future reproductive success is more important than continuing childbearing into old age is reviewed, along with data relating to the biological constraints that may be operating.
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Aberle DF (1961) Matrilineal descent in cross-cultural perspective. In: Schneider DM, Gough K (eds) Matrilineal kinshin. Berkely, University of California Press
Alam M (1995) Birth-spacing and infant and early childhood mortality in a high fertility area of Bangladesh - age-dependent and interactive effects. J Biosocial Sci 27:393–404
Barker DJP (1994) Mothers, babies and disease in later life. London, BMJ Publishing Group
Nlurton-Jones N, Hawkes K, O’Connel JF (1999) Some current ideas about evolution of the human life history. In: Lee PC (ed) Comparative primate socioecology. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
Bogin B (1999) Patterns of human growth. 2nd Edition. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
Bohler E, Bergstrom S (1995) Subsequent pregnancy effects morbidity of previous child. J Biosocial Sci 27:431– 442
Cavalli-Sforza LL, Menozzi P, Piazzo A (1994) The history and geography of human genes. Princeton, Princeton University Press
Charnov EL (1993) Life histroy invariants. Oxford, Oxford University Press
Daly M, Wilson MI (1985) Child abuse and other risks of not living with both parents. Ethol and Socio-biol 6:155– 76
Daly M, Wilson MI (1996) Violence against stepchildren. Curr Directions Psychol Sci 5:77-81 DasGupta M (1987) Selective discrimination against female children in rural Punjab. Pop Devel Rev 13:77– 100
Ellison PT (1994) Advances in human reproductive ecology. Ann Rev Anthropol 23:255–75
Engels F (1884) The origin of the family, private property and the state. London, Penguin Classics
Euler HA, Weitzel B (1996) Discriminative grandparental solicitude as reproductive strategy. Human Nature 7:39–59
Gaulin SJC, McBurney DH, Brakeman-Wartell SL (1997) Matrilateral biases in the investment of aunts and uncles: a consequence and measure of paternity uncertainty. Human Nature 8:139–151
Graham W (1991) Maternal mortalit levels, trends and data deficiencies. In: Feacham R, Jamison D (eds) Disease and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. Oxford, Oxford University Press, pp 101–126
Haig D (1999) Genetic conflicts of pregnancy childhood. In: Stearns SC (ed) Evolution in health and disease. Oxford, Oxford University Press, pp 77–89
Hamilton WD (1964) The genetical evolution of social behaviour. J Theoret Biol 7:1–52
Hamilton WD (1966) The moulding of senescence by natural selection.. J Theoret Biol 12:12–45
Harpending HC, Pennington R (1991) Age structure and sex-biased mortality among Herero pastoralists. Human Biol 63:329–353
Hawkes K, O’Connell JF, Blurton-Jones NG (1997) Hadza women’s time allocation, offspring provisioning, and the evolution of long post-menopausal lifespans. Curr Anthropol 38:551–578
Hill K (1993) Life history theory and evolutionary anthropology. Evol Anthropol 2:78–88
Hill K, Hurtado AM (1991) The evolution of reproductive senescence and menopause in human females. Human Nature 2:315–350
Hill K, Hurtado AM (1996) Ache life history: the ecology and demography of a foraging people. New York, Aldine de Gruyter
Hobcraft J, McDonald JW, Rutstein S (1983) Child-spacing effects in infant and early child mortality. Pop Index 49:585–618
Holden C, Mace R (1997) A phylogenetic analysis of the evolution of lactose digestion in adults. Human Biol 69:605–628
Holden C, Mace R (1999) Sexual dimorphism in stature and women’s work: a cross-cultural analysis. Am J Phys Anthropol 110:27–45
Howell N (1979) Demography of the Dobe area IKung. New York, Academic Press
Josephson SC (1993) Status, reproductive success and marrying polygynously. Ethol Sociobiol 14:391–396
Kirkwood TBL, Rose MR (1991) Evolution of senescence: late survival sacrificed for reproduction. Phil Trans Roy Soc London B 332; 15–24
Lack D (1968) Ecological adaptations for breeding in birds. London, Methuen
LeGrand T, Phillips JF (1996) The effect of fertility reductions on infant and child mortality: evidence from Matlab in rural Bangladesh. Pop Stud 50:51–68
Loudon I (1992) Death in childbirth: an international study of maternal care and maternal mortality 1800–1950. Oxford, Clarendon Press
Low BS (1991) Reproductive life in 19th century Sweden: an evolutionary perspective on demographic phenomena. Ethol Sociobiol 12:411–448
Lund E (1990) Pattern of childbearing and mortality in married women - a national prospective study from Norway. J Epidemiol Commun Health 44:237–240
Mace R (1996a) Biased parental investment and reproductive success in Gabbra pastoralists. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 38:75–81
Mace R (1998) The co-evolution of human fertility and wealth inheritance. Phil Trans Roy Soc London B 353:389–397
Mace R, Sear R (1996) Maternal mortality in a Kenyan, pastoralist population. Intl J Gynecol Obstet 74:137–141
Mace R, Sear R (1997) The birth interval and the sex of children: evidence from a traditional African population. J Biosoc Sci 29:499–507
Mace R, Holden C (1999) Evolutionary ecology and cross-cultural comparison: the case of matrilineality in sub-Saharan Africa. In: Lee PC (ed) Comparative primate socioecology. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
Moore SE, Coole T, Poski E, Sonko B, Whitehead R, McGregor I, Prentice AM (1997) Season of birth predicts mortality in rural Gambia. Nature 388:434
Nath DC, Land KC (1994) Sex preferences and third birth intervals in a traditional Indian society. J Biols Sci 26:95–106
Pagel MD, Harvey PH (1989) Taxonomic differences in the scaling of brain weight on body weight among mammals. Science 244:1589–1593
Pennington R (1992) Did food increase fertility? Evaluation of IKung and Herero history. Human Biol 64:497–521
Perls TT, Alpert L, Fretts RC (1997) Middle-aged mothers live longer. Nature 389:133
Perreira M, Fairbanks LA (1991) Juvenile primates. New York & Oxford, Oxford University Press
Roff DA (1992) The evolution of life histories: theory and analysis. London, Chapman & Hall Rogers AR (1993) Why menopause? Evol Ecol 7:406–420
Scheper-Hughes N (1992) Death without weeping: the violence of everyday life in Brazil. Berkely, University of California Press
Schneider DM, Gough K (1961) Matrilineal kinship. Berkeley, University of California Press
Sear R, Mace R, McGregor IA (2000) Maternal grandmothers improve nutritional status and survival of children in rural Gambia. Proc Roy Soc Lond B 267:1–7
Seielstad MT, Minch E, Cavalli-Sforza LL (1998) Genetic evidence for higher female migration rate in humans. Nature Genet 20:278–288
Shanley D (1999) Resources, reproduction and senescence: evolutionary optimality models. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis. University of Manchester
Simoons FJ (1978) The geographic hypothesis and lactose malabsorption: a weighing of the evidence. Am J Digest Diseases 23:963–980
Stearns SC (1992) The evolution of life histories. Oxford, Oxford University Press
Stearns SC, Koella J (1986) The evolution of phenotypic plasticity in life history traits: predictions for norms of reaction for age- and size-at-maturity. Evolution 40:893–913
Strassman B, Dunbar RLM (1999) Human evolution and disease: putting the Stone Age in perspective. In: Stearns SC (ed) Evolution in health and disease. Oxford, Oxford University Press, pp 91–101
Symons D (1979) The evolution of human sexuality. Oxford, Oxford University Press
Tracer D (1991) Fertility related changes in maternal body composition among the Au of Papua New Guinea. Am J Phys Anthropol 85:393–406
Voland E (1988) Differential infant and child mortality in evolutionary perspective: data from late 17th to 19th century Ostfriesland (Germany). In: Betzig L et al. (eds) Human reproductive behaviour - a Darwinian perspective. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
Williams GC (1957) Pleiostropy, natural selection and the evolution of senescence. Evolutions 11:398–411
Westendorp R, Kirkwood TBL (1998) Human longevity at the cost of reproductive success. Nature 396:743–746
Wood JW (1994) Dynamics of human reproduction: biology, demography. New York, Aldine de Gruyter
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2001 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Mace, R. (2001). Evolutionary Ecology of the Human Female Life History. In: Robine, JM., Kirkwood, T.B.L., Allard, M. (eds) Sex and Longevity: Sexuality, Gender, Reproduction, Parenthood. Research and Perspectives in Longevity. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-59558-5_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-59558-5_5
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-64026-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-59558-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive