Longevity and the costs of reproduction in a historical human population

It has been argued that the priority that natural selection places on reproduction negatively affects other processes such as longevity and the problem posed by this trade-off underlies the disposable soma theory for the evolution of human ageing. Here we examine the relationship between reproductio...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Biological sciences, 2000-01, Vol.267 (1438), p.31-35
Main Authors: Lycett, J.E, Dunbar, R.I.M, Voland, E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Aging - genetics
Aging - physiology
Agricultural population
Children
Databases, Factual
Disposable Soma Theory
Farmers
Fecundity
Female
Germany
History of medicine
History, 18th Century
History, 19th Century
Human reproduction
Humans
Krummhörn
Longevity
Male
Marriage
Reproduction
Selection, Genetic
Social Class
Social evolution
Social groups
Socioeconomics
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:It has been argued that the priority that natural selection places on reproduction negatively affects other processes such as longevity and the problem posed by this trade-off underlies the disposable soma theory for the evolution of human ageing. Here we examine the relationship between reproduction and longevity in a historical human population (the Krummhörn, north-west Germany 1720-1870). In our initial analyses, we found no support for the hypothesized negative effects of reproduction on longevity: married women who remained childless lived no longer than women who reproduced and women who had few children lived no longer than women who had many children. However, more detailed analyses in relation to socio-economic class revealed that the extent to which reproduction has an effect on longevity is a function of the level of economic deprivation. We found that, when possible sources of confound were controlled for (e.g. duration of marriage and amount of time spent in fecund marriage), there is an increasingly strong relationship between longevity and reproduction with increasing poverty.
ISSN:0962-8452
1471-2954
DOI:10.1098/rspb.2000.0962