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Whales make waves in the quest to discover why menopause evolved

Why do several species of whale experience menopause, and why does the phenomenon occur at all? Analysing whale data might help to answer these questions and shed light on why menopause evolved in humans.
  1. Rebecca Sear

    1. Rebecca Sear is in the Department of Population Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK.

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Many a menopausal person has no doubt longed to take a cold bath to ease their hot flushes, but cold waters are the natural habitat of the few confirmed non-human species that experience menopause. Menopause — identified in these species by an extended period of life after the production of offspring ends — is an unusual characteristic, shared by just a handful of species. Writing in Nature, Ellis et al.1 shed light on factors that might have driven the evolution of menopause.

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Nature 627, 496-497 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00658-9

References

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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