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Somatic maintenance/reproduction tradeoffs and human evolution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 July 2022

Kristen Hawkes*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA hawkes@anthro.utah.edu

Abstract

The authors propose that many morbidities higher in women than men are adaptations protecting survival, selected because survival has been especially crucial to mothers' reproductive success. Following their lead, I pursue variation in tradeoffs between reproduction and survival recognized by Darwin that were likely central to the evolution of many traits that distinguish us from our great ape cousins.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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