Menopause in chimps: An interesting challenge to the grandmother hypothesis, the idea that menopause, previously documented only in humans and a few cetacean specie, is an adaptation to by which older females help raise their daughters' offspring.
@ct_bergstrom Maybe we should question the foundational belief of evolution that life is only about fucking and reproduction? It's always worth reminding ourselves that ideas about evolution have largely been created and promoted by men who think in terms of patriarchal cultures were paternity defines worth and value and is seen as "the natural order." (Much like they couldn't conceive that sex wasn't always about dominance.)
No serious evolutionary biologist thinks that life is only about fucking and reproduction. Nature is replete with species the majority of whose members do not contribute to the gene pool yet very much contribute to the survival of the genome.
I don't know if this is directed at me or not, but if so, I don't know quite what I did to give that impression.
All I said is that this study challenges the grandmother hypothesis, which, IMO, is a rather narrowly adaptationist view of the world.
I try to convey the enormous nuance of evolutionary theory in my book with @LeeDugatkin but if there are places where you think I've failed I would appreciate knowing that so I can improve the subsequent edition.
@ct_bergstrom
No, I definitely wasn't responding to you, but to the intervening comment from someone else about a "foundational belief of evolution".
