* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Sacramento city leaders approve adding 2 entertainment zones in midtown – CBS News

    Sacramento City Leaders Approve Two Thrilling New Entertainment Zones in Midtown

    AMC brings first new Dolby Experience to Gwinnett since 2017 – Wyoming News Now

    AMC Launches First New Dolby Experience in Gwinnett Since 2017

    Hetzel Design: blending architecture and entertainment – Blooloop

    Hetzel Design: Where Architecture and Entertainment Unite in Perfect Harmony

    Country music legend rushed to hospital year after heart surgery. Here’s what we know – PennLive.com

    Country Music Legend Rushed to Hospital One Year After Heart Surgery – What’s Happening Now?

    Strictly Come Dancing results: Chris Robshaw is eliminated while drag queen La Voix escapes dance-off – Yahoo

    Strictly Come Dancing results: Chris Robshaw is eliminated while drag queen La Voix escapes dance-off – Yahoo

    Placer County town of Loomis considers entertainment zone for downtown – CBS News

    Loomis Unveils Thrilling New Entertainment Zone to Revitalize Downtown

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Rydberg Technologies Inc. Announces Launch of Rydberg Photonics in Berlin – The Quantum Insider

    Rydberg Technologies Launches Exciting New Photonics Division in Berlin

    A look into new technology at Columbia University that could help prevent a dangerous pregnancy complication – ABC7 New York

    A look into new technology at Columbia University that could help prevent a dangerous pregnancy complication – ABC7 New York

    Office Technology: Dealers’ Managed IT Revenue up Nearly 30% – The Cannata Report –

    Office Technology: Dealers’ Managed IT Revenue up Nearly 30% – The Cannata Report –

    3 E Network Technology Group Limited Closes $1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note Offering – Quiver Quantitative

    3 E Network Technology Group Limited Closes $1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note Offering – Quiver Quantitative

    3 Technology Stocks to Buy Now – Yahoo Finance

    3 Must-Buy Tech Stocks You Can’t Afford to Miss Right Now

    ‘New frontier’: Austin leaders start discussions on air taxi technology – KXAN Austin

    Austin Leaders Ignite Exciting Conversations on the Future of Air Taxi Technology

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Sacramento city leaders approve adding 2 entertainment zones in midtown – CBS News

    Sacramento City Leaders Approve Two Thrilling New Entertainment Zones in Midtown

    AMC brings first new Dolby Experience to Gwinnett since 2017 – Wyoming News Now

    AMC Launches First New Dolby Experience in Gwinnett Since 2017

    Hetzel Design: blending architecture and entertainment – Blooloop

    Hetzel Design: Where Architecture and Entertainment Unite in Perfect Harmony

    Country music legend rushed to hospital year after heart surgery. Here’s what we know – PennLive.com

    Country Music Legend Rushed to Hospital One Year After Heart Surgery – What’s Happening Now?

    Strictly Come Dancing results: Chris Robshaw is eliminated while drag queen La Voix escapes dance-off – Yahoo

    Strictly Come Dancing results: Chris Robshaw is eliminated while drag queen La Voix escapes dance-off – Yahoo

    Placer County town of Loomis considers entertainment zone for downtown – CBS News

    Loomis Unveils Thrilling New Entertainment Zone to Revitalize Downtown

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Rydberg Technologies Inc. Announces Launch of Rydberg Photonics in Berlin – The Quantum Insider

    Rydberg Technologies Launches Exciting New Photonics Division in Berlin

    A look into new technology at Columbia University that could help prevent a dangerous pregnancy complication – ABC7 New York

    A look into new technology at Columbia University that could help prevent a dangerous pregnancy complication – ABC7 New York

    Office Technology: Dealers’ Managed IT Revenue up Nearly 30% – The Cannata Report –

    Office Technology: Dealers’ Managed IT Revenue up Nearly 30% – The Cannata Report –

    3 E Network Technology Group Limited Closes $1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note Offering – Quiver Quantitative

    3 E Network Technology Group Limited Closes $1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note Offering – Quiver Quantitative

    3 Technology Stocks to Buy Now – Yahoo Finance

    3 Must-Buy Tech Stocks You Can’t Afford to Miss Right Now

    ‘New frontier’: Austin leaders start discussions on air taxi technology – KXAN Austin

    Austin Leaders Ignite Exciting Conversations on the Future of Air Taxi Technology

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Science

Grandma chimps offer clues for evolution of menopause in humans

October 29, 2023
in Science
Grandma chimps offer clues for evolution of menopause in humans
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

A Chimpanzee rests at Malaysia's national zoo in Kuala Lumpur

A Chimpanzee rests at Malaysia’s national zoo in Kuala Lumpur.

Humans and some whales are the only known species in which females live long after they stop being able to reproduce.

A new paper in the journal Science on Thursday argues that chimpanzees should now be added to the list, and offers clues about the evolutionary imperatives behind menopause in women.

“Chimpanzees have been studied in the wild for a long time, and you might think there’s nothing left to learn about them,” senior author Kevin Langergraber of Arizona State University told AFP. “I think this research shows us that’s not true.”

The vast majority of mammal females produce offspring until the end of their lives, but humans experience a decline in reproductive hormones and the permanent cessation of ovary function around age 50.

Females of five species of toothed whale, including orcas and narwhals, similarly survive well beyond fertile age.

It isn’t obvious why natural selection would favor this trait, and only among a handful of species.

Some scientists have put forward the “grandmother hypothesis” as a possible explanation: the idea that older females enter a post-reproductive state to consume fewer resources and focus on improving their grandchildren’s odds of survival.

Demographics and hormones

In the new paper, researchers examined the mortality and fertility rates of 185 female chimpanzees in the Ngogo community of wild chimpanzees in Kibale National Park, Uganda, between 1995 and 2016.

Specifically, the team calculated a metric called the post-reproductive representation (PrR), which is the average proportion of the adult life span that is spent in a post-reproductive state.

Past attempts that used demographic data to study whether chimps underwent menopause were hampered by haphazard statistical methods, lead author Brian Wood of the University of California, Los Angeles, told AFP, with PrR proving a more robust measure.

It showed Ngogo chimpanzee females—but not other chimpanzees from other populations—lived on average 20 percent of their adult years in a post-reproductive state, just a little under what has been observed in humans.

To exclude the possibility that, say, an STD swept through the community causing mass sterility among older females in the past, the team paired the demographic data with hormonal status.

They took urine samples of 66 females ranging in age and reproductive status, and measured the levels of gonadotropins, estrogens, and progestins, finding the hormonal patterns closely mirrored what was seen in human females experiencing menopausal transition.

Chimps aren’t good grandmas

Still, the case for menopause in chimps isn’t quite closed, say the authors, offering two possible interpretations.

Wild animals have been found to have substantial post-reproductive life spans in captivity where they are protected from predators and disease, and it’s possible the Ngogo chimps similarly experienced unusually favorable conditions, such as an absence of leopards that were hunted to extinction in the area.

Alternatively, the remote Ngogo chimps might be more typical of historic populations that were untouched by human activities such as hunting and logging.

If that’s so, said Wood, then scientists need to update their evolutionary theories of menopause.

In chimpanzee society, daughters leave the community in which they are born, while the males who remain mate promiscuously.

That means males don’t know who their offspring are, and by extension, grandmothers don’t know which grandoffspring are theirs—so the “grandmother hypothesis” won’t apply.

Instead, Wood said that menopause might have evolved to reduce competition for limited breeding opportunities between aging females and their daughters.

When a female chimp first enters a new group, she starts out with a low level of relatedness to other members, though this increases over time as she breeds.

Since her genes are by then widespread, she has less to gain in breeding conflict against a younger female.

Dan Franks of the University of York who has studied postmenopausal killer whales, described the study as “fascinating”.

“This research presents the first instance of menopause occurring in non-human primates in the wild,” he said, adding that the second interpretation offered by the authors was “tantalizing” in terms of its evolutionary implications.

The authors hope to study the question further among bonobos, who along with chimpanzees are our closest relatives in the animal kingdom.

More information:
Brian M. Wood et al, Demographic and hormonal evidence for menopause in wild chimpanzees, Science (2023). DOI: 10.1126/science.add5473. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.add5473

Michael Cant et al, Menopause in chimpanzees, Science (2023). DOI: 10.1126/science.adk7119. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adk7119

© 2023 AFP

Citation:
Grandma chimps offer clues for evolution of menopause in humans (2023, October 29)
retrieved 29 October 2023
from https://phys.org/news/2023-10-grandma-chimps-clues-evolution-menopause.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : Phys.org – https://phys.org/news/2023-10-grandma-chimps-clues-evolution-menopause.html

Tags: chimpsGrandmascience
Previous Post

What is a COP?

Next Post

Urban warfare in Gaza: Will it be different this time?

Forest cover enhances pest control by birds and bats independently of vineyard management intensity – besjournals

Forest cover enhances pest control by birds and bats independently of vineyard management intensity – besjournals

October 22, 2025
November Family Consumer Science Program – Alachua County

November Family Consumer Science Program – Alachua County

October 22, 2025
Correction: Anti-Science Movement story – The News-Gazette

Unraveling the Truth Behind the Anti-Science Movement: A Closer Look

October 22, 2025
Best Burgers 2025: 9 cult-favorite burgers off the beaten path – Yahoo

Best Burgers 2025: 9 cult-favorite burgers off the beaten path – Yahoo

October 22, 2025
Rydberg Technologies Inc. Announces Launch of Rydberg Photonics in Berlin – The Quantum Insider

Rydberg Technologies Launches Exciting New Photonics Division in Berlin

October 22, 2025
Forbes Unveils First-Ever “Most Powerful Women In Sports” List, Featuring 25 Of The Trailblazers Transforming The Industry, Including Gayle Benson, Caitlin Clark, Michele Kang, Serena Williams And More – Forbes

Meet the 25 Trailblazing Women Revolutionizing the World of Sports, Featuring Gayle Benson, Caitlin Clark, Michele Kang, Serena Williams and More

October 22, 2025
Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky remembered for his impact on the chess world – NPR

Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky: Honoring a Timeless Chess Legacy

October 22, 2025
Seattle’s Creative Economy: Building Talent, Culture, and Community – GeekWire

Seattle’s Creative Economy: How Talent, Culture, and Community Are Shaping the Future

October 22, 2025
Sacramento city leaders approve adding 2 entertainment zones in midtown – CBS News

Sacramento City Leaders Approve Two Thrilling New Entertainment Zones in Midtown

October 22, 2025
Self-efficacy mediates the effect of hope on health promotion intention in Chinese stroke patients – Nature

How Hope Boosts Health Motivation in Chinese Stroke Patients Through Self-Efficacy

October 22, 2025

Categories

Archives

October 2025
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  
« Sep    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (881)
  • Economy (902)
  • Entertainment (21,773)
  • General (17,746)
  • Health (9,943)
  • Lifestyle (915)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (903)
  • Politics (912)
  • Science (16,113)
  • Sports (21,402)
  • Technology (15,882)
  • World (885)

Recent News

Forest cover enhances pest control by birds and bats independently of vineyard management intensity – besjournals

Forest cover enhances pest control by birds and bats independently of vineyard management intensity – besjournals

October 22, 2025
November Family Consumer Science Program – Alachua County

November Family Consumer Science Program – Alachua County

October 22, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version