Chimpanzees Can Actually Go Through Menopause, Darwin's Theory Strengthens

"Chimpanzees Can Actually Experience Menopause, Darwin's Theory Strengthens Again"

Chimpanzees Can Actually Go Through Menopause, Darwin's Theory Strengthens

The researchers have found evidence indicating that wild chimpanzees in Uganda's Kibale National Park experience menopause, thus explaining the evolution of this rare trait in humans. Wild female chimpanzees in Uganda live far beyond the point where they can reproduce and may experience menopause like humans.

Until now, humans are one of only three known animal species to experience menopause, along with orcas (Orcinus orca) and short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus).

Research Reveals Fertility and Menopause Patterns in Ngogo, Uganda.

In the Science journal, investigating the issue of fertility in the closest living relatives of humans, namely the eastern chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii). Wood and his colleagues examined demographic and fertility data collected over 21 years between 1995 and 2016 in Kibale National Park, Uganda, the home of the wild chimpanzee community Ngogo. The researchers analyzed records of 185 female chimpanzees. They found a decline in fertility from the age of 30 and no births after the age of 50, although some females lived long after that age.

The female Ngogo chimpanzee apparently spends about one-fifth of her adulthood in a "post-reproductive state," which is about half of the proportion calculated for modern hunter-gatherer humans like the Hadza tribe.

Research using urine samples from 66 female chimpanzees in various stages of reproduction (ages 14 to 67 years) also revealed hormonal changes that occur with age and cessation of having offspring, similar to what is seen in humans experiencing menopause.

Chimpanzees and humans may inherit the genes that cause menopause from the same ancestors, according to the study. Alternatively, this trait may have evolved independently in each species.

Source: Live Science

The following 'Bahasa' text translated to 'English' while preserving any html tags: "This good life may explain why female chimpanzees there live long beyond their reproductive years. Although non-reproductive female chimpanzees also exist in other wild chimpanzee communities, only a few live beyond the age of 50, according to the research."

It is not clear whether signs of menopause in chimpanzees appear due to "very favorable ecological conditions" or if the apes have evolved in such a way. Research suggests that recent changes in the environment and disease epidemics that have shortened the lifespan of chimpanzees may have erased the traces of evolutionary history, including the phenomenon of menopause.

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