Index

Handout for the Department Meeting 20010522


Department Meeting, May 22, 2001. by M. Nakazawa

Grandmother Hypothesis (GMH)

Alvarez, Helen Perich (2000) Grandmother hypothesis and primate life histories. American Journal of Physical Anthropology , 113: 435-450.

References

  1. Charnov, Eric L. (1993) Life History Invariants. Some Explorations of Symmetry in Evolutionary Ecology . Oxford University Press, Oxford.
  2. Hawkes, Kristen, J.F. O'Connell, N.G. Blurton Jones, H. Alvarez and E.L. Charnov (1998) Grandmothering, menopause, and the evolution of human life histories. Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences , 95: 1336-1339.
  3. Pavelka, Mary S. McDonald and L.M. Fedigan (1999) Reproductive termination in female Japanese monkeys: A comparative life history perspective. American Journal of Physical Anthropology , 109: 455-464.
  4. Millar, J.S. and R.M. Zammuto (1983) Life histories of mammals: an analysis of life tables. Ecology , 64: 631-635.
  5. Eisenberg, J.F. (1981) The Mammalian Radiations . University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
  6. Purvis A. and P.A. Harvey (1995) Mammal life-history evolution: a comparative test of Charnov's model. J. Zool. Soc. Lond. , 237: 259-283.

Background ~ One of the greatest puzzle in evolutionary biology - Why do only human females among any organism survive longer time after menopause?

Item Description
α age of maturity (or time from weaning to first conception)
b annual birth rate
M average adult instantaneous mortality rate (M-1 is average adult lifespan)
TMAX maximum life span, with relationship M-1 = 0.4 TMAX - 0.1
d the ratio of offspring weight at weaning (the size that an offspring must reach before the mother moves to next reproduction) to mother's body weight

Aims of this study

  1. Review the general theory and the specific model underlying GMH (summarized above).
  2. Extend the comparisons for 4 species by Hawkes et al. to 16 primate species.

Method

Results

Discussion

Nakazawa's point of view

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On 22 May 2001, 15:29.