Thursday, April 10, 2014

The Grandmother hypothesis applies to whales too!

This article actually helped me to understand the grandmother hypothesis a little more. Whales are similar to humans in that females live long past menopause. I know we had discussed it in class, but it now makes sense to me that females would be the ones to aid fitness as a trade off from losing fertility. It is also very interesting to see such a similar social environment in whales as exists in great apes. This leads me to ask what other species see patterns of grandmothering and fitness. Surely they would be species that live beyond reproduction and are also very social. This is a very narrow category and I cannot think of another species that might see this phenomenon.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10451533

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