Flexibility in reproductive timing in human females: integrating ultimate and proximate explanations

作者：Nettle Daniel^*

来源：Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 2011, 366(1563): 357-365.

DOI：10.1098/rstb.2010.0073

• human behavioural ecology
• life history
• reproductive strategies
• developmental plasticity
• developmental programming

From an ultimate perspective, the age of onset of female reproduction should be sensitive to variation in mortality rates, and variation in the productivity of non-reproductive activities. In accordance with this prediction, most of the cross-national variation in women's age at first birth can be explained by differences in female life expectancies and incomes. The within-country variation in England shows a similar pattern: women have children younger in neighbourhoods where the expectation of healthy life is shorter and incomes are lower. I consider the proximate mechanisms likely to be involved in producing locally appropriate reproductive decisions. There is evidence suggesting that developmental induction, social learning and contextual evocation may all play a role.

• 出版日期2011-2-12