Extended Postmenopausal Lifespan
Synonyms
Definition
It has been proposed that human menopause exists because lifespans have expanded beyond the point of natural reproductive senescence. As a feature of the grandmother hypothesis, this account describes how human females have gained the ability to provide enhanced care to kin.
Introduction
The grandmother hypothesis proposes that the function of postmenopausal (i.e., postreproductive) life in females is to provide enhanced care to kin. One interpretation of this hypothesis is that postmenopausal life is the consequence of extended human lifespans, living beyond the physiological degradation of reproductive functioning. This interpretation is in contrast with the description of menopause, or the cessation of ovulation, as an adaptation designed to make grandparental care more efficient.
Evidence
Research into the grandmother hypothesis has primarily supported the notion that postmenopausal life is the...
References
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