Human uniqueness? Life history diversity among small-scale societies and chimpanzees.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Humans life histories have been described as "slow", patterned by slow growth, delayed maturity, and long life span. While it is known that human life history diverged from that of a recent common chimpanzee-human ancestor some ~4-8 mya, it is unclear how selection pressures led to these distinct traits. To provide insight, we compare wild chimpanzees and human subsistence societies in order to identify the age-specific vital rates that best explain fitness variation, selection pressures and species divergence.

Methods

We employ Life Table Response Experiments to quantify vital rate contributions to population growth rate differences. Although widespread in ecology, these methods have not been applied to human populations or to inform differences between humans an

SUBMITTER: Davison RJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7899333 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature