Science

13033 readers

59 users here now

Studies, research findings, and interesting tidbits from the ever-expanding scientific world.

Subcommunities on Beehaw:

Space

Be sure to also check out these other Fediverse science communities:

This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

alyaza@beehaw.org

Gaywallet@beehaw.org

remington@beehaw.org

Chimpanzees Go Through Menopause, Too (www.nytimes.com)

submitted 1 year ago by Bebo@literature.cafe to c/science@beehaw.org

22 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] storksforlegs@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago (8 children)

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

[–] gregorum@lemm.ee 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

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.

[–] burningmatches 7 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Some whales have menopause too I think.

[–] Drusas@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

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

[–] liv@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

And elephants.

[–] gregorum@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

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

load more comments (1 replies)

load more comments (3 replies)