It is not obvious why selection should favor menopause or the continued survival of individuals that can no longer reproduce. The famous Grandmother Hypothesis had been used to explain the evolutionary significance of menopause. A new study conducted on the Ngogo chimpanzees community of wild chimpanzees in Uganda challenges this hypothesis. Science 27 Oct 2023 Vol 382, Issue 6669 DOI: 10.1126/science.add547

  • Storksforlegs
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    28 months ago

    This is weird, i always assumed all other mammals went through it too. Why wouldnt they?

    • gregorum
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      8 months ago

      They don’t live long enough to go through menopause. Ever met a female cat that lived into her 50s?

      We may soon discover that orcas also experience menopause as soon as some daring team of whale biologists carries out a similar study collecting orca pee.

        • Drusas
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          48 months ago

          Orcas do, and their behavior fits the grandmother hypothesis pretty well.

        • gregorum
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          18 months ago

          That wouldn’t surprise me at all. They certainly live long enough. 

      • Storksforlegs
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        8 months ago

        Ah, I see. That’s interesting, never realized this! I guess I just thought mammals had similar reproductive setups (aside from different gestations and number of children etc) But I really have no idea haha.

    • @gloriousspearfish
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      28 months ago

      Maybe because most mammals don’t menstruate. Only humans and a few others do, like bats and some apes.

      • @jarfil@beehaw.org
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        58 months ago

        All placental mammals menstruate, most of them just reabsorb the endometrium internally instead of shedding it. Most mammal females are also not in heat all year round.