Evidence for Menopause in Wild Chimpanzees

Source https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2023/11/evidence-for-menopause-in-wild-chimpanzees/

Few mammalian species exhibit menopause. It is thought that humans evolved into this state of post-reproductive old age in part because older individuals can help to enhance the reproductive fitness of their direct offspring. This view is known as the “grandmother hypothesis“. The same behavior is observed in orcas, one of the few other mammals to exhibit menopause. Researchers here provide evidence for chimpanzees to undergo menopause, which is a strike against the grandmother hypothesis, as chimpanzee elders do not assist their offspring in this way.

A team of researchers studying the Ngogo community of wild chimpanzees in western Uganda’s Kibale Nation…