From the womb to the tomb: The role of transfers in shaping the evolved human life history
Open accessAbstract
Humans are the longest living and slowest growing of all primates. Although most primates are social, humans are highly cooperative and social in ways that likely co-evolved with the slow human life history. In this paper we highlight the role of resource transfers and non-material assistance within and across generations in shaping low human mortality rates. The use of complex cooperative strategies to minimize risk is a necessary precursor for selecting further reductions in mortality rate in late adulthood. In conjunction with changes in the age-profile of production, the impacts of resource transfers and other forms of cooperation on reducing mortality likely played an important role in selection on post-reproductive lifespan throughout human evolution. Using medical data and ethnographic interviews, we explore several types of common risks experienced by Tsimane forager-horticulturalists, and quantify the types and targets of aid. Our results illustrate the importance of transfers in several key domains and suggest that the absence of transfers would greatly increase human mortality rates throughout the life course.
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“Disability from illness and injury may also depress physical activity in traditional societies [13].”
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- Authors
- Gurven, M., Stieglitz, J., Hooper, P. L., Gomes, C., & Kaplan, H.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Santa Barbara (US)
- University of New Mexico (US)
- Corresponding author
- Gurven, Michael
- Venue
- Experimental Gerontology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2012-10
- Volume
- 47
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 807-813
- ISSN
- 0531-5565 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3437008
- OpenAlex
- W2109716686
- Cited by
- 101
- References
- 51
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 12.02
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Experimental Gerontology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Chapman University Digital Commons (Chapman University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (R56AG024119, P01AG022500, R01AG024119)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Social Sciences › Demography › Insurance, Mortality, Demography, Risk Management
- Keywords
- human life history, mortality, resource transfer, intergenerational transfers, cooperation, social support, post-reproductive lifespan, Tsimane, forager-horticulturalists, risk mitigation, human evolution, old age
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aging, Agriculture, Bolivia, Child, Child, Preschool, Conflict, Psychological, Conservation of Natural Resources, Cooperative Behavior, Efficiency, Biological Evolution, Family, Feeding Behavior, Female, Food Handling, Humans, Indians, South American, Infant, Longevity, Male, Middle Aged, Intergenerational Relations, Risk Reduction Behavior, Young Adult
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