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Cited by 548Animal Behavior and ReproductionEvolutionary Psychology and Human BehaviorPrimate Behavior and Ecology

Reproductive suppression among female mammals: implications for biomedicine and sexual selection theory

Wasser, Samuel K., Barash, David P.·1983·The Quarterly Review of Biology
DOI 10.1086/413545
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Abstract

Female mammals experience a very high and often unappreciated rate of reproductive failure. Among human pregnancies alone, over 50 per cent fail between conception and parturition, and the majority of these failures are unexplained. These findings present important problems for evolutionary theory as well as for health care practices. This paper addresses these high rates of reproductive failure among mammals, by extending the work of a number of evolutionary biologists regarding the reproductive consequences of environmental adversity. The basic model upon which we elaborate, termed the Reproductive Suppression Model, argues that females can optimize their lifetime reproductive success by suppressing reproduction when future conditions for the survival of offspring are likely to be sufficiently better than present ones as to exceed the costs of the suppression itself. These costs are a function of reproductive time lost and the direct phenotypic effects of the suppression itself. To evaluate the benefits and costs of suppression, the following types of cues should be assessed: the female's physical and mental health, her stage of reproduction, the physical and genetic status of her offspring, and the external conditions at the time of birth. We also examine various issues of social suppression, whereby the conditions for survival of offspring are a function of the reproduction and support of other group members. Under such conditions, some females may be able to improve curr…

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Crossref · 10.1086/413545

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  • Adolescent females are predicted to show increased stress responsivity to cues of reduced social support, a key determinant of successful reproduction.

    “We predict that adolescent females should exhibit increased stress responsivity to cues of reduced social support, a key determinant of successful reproduction (Hrdy, 2009; Wasser, 1994; Wasser and Barash, 1983; see also Troisi, 2001).”

    From The Adaptive Calibration Model of stress responsivity (2011) · cites this paper as Wasser and Barash, 1983

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Authors
Wasser, S. K., & Barash, D. P.
ORCID
Wasser, Samuel K.
Venue
The Quarterly Review of Biology
Publisher
University of Chicago Press
Published
1983-12
Volume
58
Issue
4
Pages
513-538
ISSN
  • 0033-5770 (ISSN-L)
  • 1539-7718
DOI
10.1086/413545
OpenAlex
W2048619801
Cited by
548
References
89
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 34 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 22 · 2012: 10
FWCI
7.46
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • The Quarterly Review of Biology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
Keywords
reproductive suppression, reproductive failure, female mammals, lifetime reproductive success, environmental adversity, sexual selection, yellow baboons, hoary marmot, miscarriage, reproductive health care, evolutionary theory
MeSH terms
Abortion, Spontaneous, Animals, Behavior, Animal, Biological Evolution, Female, Fertility, Humans, Mammals, Marmota, Papio, Pregnancy, Reproduction, Socioeconomic Factors, Embryonic Development

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