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Human longevity

The grandmother effect

Nature volume 428, pages 128–129 (2004)Cite this article

Why do women live long past the age of child-bearing? Contrary to common wisdom, this phenomenon is not new, and is not due to support for the elderly. Rather, grannies have a lot to offer their grandchildren.

Those who think postmenopausal women make little difference in the story of human populations will be surprised by the report of Lahdenperä and colleagues on page 178 of this issue1. The authors have unearthed firm evidence in support of the ‘grandmother hypothesis’, according to which a grandmother has a decidedly beneficial effect on the reproductive success of her children and the survival of her grandchildren.

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Figure 1: Population profiles for women — females over 15 years of age — for different variables.
Figure 2

POPPERFOTO.COM

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  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, 270 S. 1400 E. Stewart 102, Salt Lake City, 84102, Utah, USA

    Kristen Hawkes

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Hawkes, K. The grandmother effect. Nature 428, 128–129 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/428128a

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