Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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Some scientists who studied the Hadza think that Grandmothers may have made our widening exploration of the world possible:

http://www.nytimes.com/specials/women/warchive/970916_2115.html

edited Oct 26 2011 at 16:20

asked Oct 26 2011 at 16:09

Dragonfly
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Interesting question! In elephants, the matriarchs are critical to group survival. Here's one possible reason: news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2001/04/19-02.html – Rose Oct 26 2011 at 16:12

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Nice one, Rose! – Dragonfly Oct 26 2011 at 16:29

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Very interesting. Thanks for posting@ – Chinaeskimo Jun 24 at 6:00

Josh M · Accepted Answer · 2011-10-26 21:45:13Z UTC

Perhaps its advantageous when a woman goes through menopause she can now focus her considerable talents & energy on caring for / contributing to the tribe more instead of on only one child(ren). I know my grandmother raised a great family of kids then went on to care for and guide everyone (extended family) for almost 40 years, she shared her knowledge, patience and wisdom, much of which was garnered through raising her kids.

Farmer's Daughter · Answer 2 · 2011-10-26 22:00:02Z UTC

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If you are interested in this, I suggest you read Wenda Trevathan's Ancient Bodies, Modern Lives: How Evolution has Shaped Women's Health. There is an entire chapter on the evolutionary advantages of menopause. Definitely check it out.

answered Oct 26 2011 at 22:00

Farmer's Daughter
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kathy · Answer 3 · 2011-10-26 22:16:37Z UTC

i think the evolutionary advantage is that the eggs become less viable as a woman ages, and menopause is nature's way of easing a woman off of her menses--and the hormones that go along with fertility--so that she can no longer have babies with those potentially compromised eggs.

menopause is just a symptom of the underlying hormonal changes.

Jay · Answer 4 · 2011-10-26 22:08:28Z UTC

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Yes, I can't think of any evolved traits that aren't advantageous, at least for humans living in their evolutionary niche.

The best known explanation is the grandmother hypothesis, which you seem to have found out yourself.

answered Oct 26 2011 at 22:08

Jay
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Interesting answer, Jay. So you don't think there are such things as evolutionary "spandrels," along the lines of Steven Pinker's definition of music as "mental cheesecake"? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spandrel_(biology) – Rose Oct 26 2011 at 23:43

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Rose, I don't know enough about it to comment. That said, with something as intimately connected to reproduction as menopause, I don't think it can be accidental. – Jay Oct 27 2011 at 1:29

PaleoGreyhound · Answer 5 · 2013-03-14 04:13:03Z UTC

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Early menopause means less lifetime estrogens exposure. Dec risk for endometrial breast and arguably ovarian cancers

answered Mar 14 at 4:13

PaleoGreyhound
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I'm_with_Raquel · Answer 6 · 2013-03-14 12:10:25Z UTC

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Babysitting, surely! So the younger, fitter females can do more gathering, or even hunting.

answered Mar 14 at 12:10

I'm_with_Raquel
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Chris · Answer 7 · 2013-03-14 10:28:38Z UTC

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There is no evolutionary advantage to menopause.

Evolutionary advantages are advantages that allow a species to live to the age of reproduction, and increase the likelihood of that organism reproducing. Those species with the advantages consequently reproduce more than those without.

Biological traits that occur beyond reproduction age cannot be affected by evolution. This is why we haven't evolved to withstand heart disease, dementia and other age related diseases.

Menopause cannot increase the likelihood of an organism reproducing, and therefore is not the result of an evolutionary advantage. Prolonging menopause does have an evolutionary advantage, and I suspect that the age of menopause consequently has been increasing over time.

edit: There may be advantages to early menopause, but these benefits don't increase the chances of passing then down to off-spring because the benefits occur after reproduction age. Therefore these benefits don't contribute to the evolution of the species.

edited Mar 14 at 10:28

answered Mar 14 at 0:49

Chris
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	This assumes that only traits which affect the individual alone, rather than the group ate selected for. As a tribal animal, I doubt very much that this is the case. – I'm_with_Raquel Mar 14 at 12:12
	Humans are not frogs or spiders. Humanity's survival was not a numbers game that dependeded on spawning hundreds of offspring like a spider. A trait that increases the likelihood of survival of offspring (even if it does not increase the likelihood of an organism reproducing) absolutely has an evolutionary advantage. To the extent menopause led older women to care for the rest of the social group and such care contributed to an increase in offspring survival, such a trait could certainly provide an evolutionary advantage over groups that did not have such contributions from elders. – Todd B Mar 14 at 13:12
	Humans are social animals, and altruistic social animals at that. Menopause allows women to not undergo late in life pregnancies that might kill them, leaving them alive to help rear their existing kids - who carry 50% of their DNA, and their grandkids - who carry 25% of their DNA. It also means a big reduction in non-viable pregnancies/fetuses. Not all mammals go through menopause - it exists for a reason! – celticcavegirl Mar 14 at 13:15
	Excuse me? Why is menopause necessary to care for grandkids? – Chris Mar 14 at 13:51
	Because early humans didn't have birth control. Kind of hard to take care of other folk's children when you have a bunch of your own. – Todd B Mar 14 at 17:43

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Do you think there is an evolutionary advantage to Menopause?

7 Answers