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BIOLOGICAL FITNESS AND ACTION OPPORTUNITY OF NATURAL SELECTION IN AN URBAN POPULATION OF CUBA: PLAZA DE LA REVOLUCIÓN, HAVANA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 July 2011

VANESSA VAZQUEZ ,
VERÓNICA ALONSO  and
FRANCISCO LUNA
VANESSA VAZQUEZ
Affiliation:
Museo Antropológico Montané, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de La Habana, Cuba
VERÓNICA ALONSO
Affiliation:
Departamento de Zoología y Antropología Física, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
FRANCISCO LUNA
Affiliation:
Departamento de Zoología y Antropología Física, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain
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Summary

This paper describes the biological fitness of an urban population of Havana city, Plaza de la Revolución, which has the lowest fertility and the highest demographic ageing in Cuba. The aim is to assess the biological fitness of this community through the indexes of action opportunity of natural selection, to determine its evolutionary pattern and the influence of its socio-cultural peculiarity. Demographic data were obtained from the reproductive histories of 1200 women between the ages of 55 and 64. Data concerning mortality and surviving offspring from the first embryonic stages until age of reproduction were also collected. In order to measure the level of biological fitness two indexes were used: the Crow index of action opportunity of natural selection and the corrected index proposed by Johnston and Kensinger, which takes into account prenatal mortality. This corrected index was calculated including and excluding induced abortions in order to evaluate the contribution of these to biological fitness. When only postnatal mortality was considered, the results showed an evolutionary pattern similar to that of developed countries, based on low mortality and fertility. However, when prenatal mortality was taken into account, biological fitness decreased and the corrected index of natural selection was 4.5 times higher than when miscarriages and fetal deaths were not considered. Moreover, this corrected index was 2.65 times higher when induced miscarriages were considered, indicating the large decrease in biological fitness as a result of the current reproductive behaviour of frequent induced abortion.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 44 , Issue 2 , March 2012 , pp. 155 - 163
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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