4 ms·
natural selection does not play a role past reproductive age. If you die at 50 or 130 (for the vast majority who do not bear children in their 50s or later), yo
by ido 10y ago
natural selection does not play a role past reproductive age. If you die at 50 or 130 (for the vast majority who do not bear children in their 50s or later), your chances of propagating your genes to the next generation are the same.
- wutbrodo 10y agoThis is definitely wrong, in general. The current consensus for why menopause may be adaptive is kin selection acting through grandparents' contribution to their grandkids' lives. (ie that the decline in fitness of hypothetical new children past a certain age makes indirect contributions to descendants' fitness relatively more useful than continued reproduction).
- ido 10y agoi stand corrected!