Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 November 2024
Lifespan is just one component of a species life history. To understand human longevity from an evolutionary perspective, it is important to consider the human species’ phylogenetic history and the evolution of the entire human life cycle. This chapter extends previous fundamental reviews in the light of recent findings, and with particular emphasis on the evolution of longevity of the human species. It first compares the primate life cycle to that of other terrestrial mammals, and highlights the evolution of the slow pace of life observed in primates. It then compares the life cycles of humans and other primates, emphasizing the peculiarities of the human life cycle. The chapter outlines the main theories explaining the evolution of these peculiar life history traits that occurred since the human-chimpanzee divergence, linking these to the evolution of human reproduction, ontogenesis, diet and cognition. It then emphasizes the pivotal roles of sociality and intergenerational transfers for understanding the joint evolution of the human life cycle, biology and cognitive, linguistic and social capabilities. Together, this finally allows a contemplation of the most probable scenario joint evolution of human reproduction, ageing and longevity.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.