Do animals have menopause like humans?

In the animal kingdom is full of strange reproductive strategies, but when it comes to menopause, people belong to the most bizarre group.

Only 3 species on the planet - humans, killer dolphins and navigator dolphins - have female individuals who often stop reproducing for many years before ending their lives. For example, in humans, the postmenopausal period accounts for nearly one third of women's lifespan.

Fertility of many animals becomes less and less with time and age. For example, chimpanzees begin to experience fertility decline from the age of 30 until their ability reaches zero around the age of 45.

According to the Virpi Lummaa - evolutionary biologist at Sheffield University (UK), what makes the difference for humans and the two killer dolphins as well as the dolphins are the females of these 3 species. continue to live long after menopause, while females of chimpanzees and other animals rarely survive the time when their ovaries are completely depleted, even in captivity.

The dolphins murdered enter menopause before age 50, but can live up to 90 years old. Meanwhile, the dolphin dolphin stops reproducing at about 36 years old and can live for 65 years.

The question is, why aren't some species going through menopause? Some researchers believe that the answer lies in the typical family structure of humans and two dolphins.

Humans, killer dolphins and naval dolphins become more genetically attached to the individuals they live with as they age. In particular, women traditionally leave their parents' families to join their husband's family. Initially, they were not genetically attached to their husband's family, but when they were old and their children began to give birth, they became more closely linked, genetically, to those around them.

Such circumstances can create a tendency to stop childbirth to support younger generations and blood to carry out the role of fatherhood and motherhood - a model of end-of-life support that researchers call false theory about grandmother.

Still, other experts believe that mothers begin menopause when their daughter enters the reproductive age to cope with the scarcity of resources, such as food and for modern people. is money.

'Many generations living under one roof cannot successfully breed together when resources are scarce , ' evolutionary biologist Lummaa stressed on Live Science.

Called 'reproductive conflict hypothesis' , some researchers mentioned this phenomenon as the 'Bride of the Father 2' hypothesis, because it is similar to the irony of the 1995 film of the same name. in which the male character Steve Martin fell into a tragic situation when both his wife and daughter were pregnant at the same time.

However, Lummaa admits, it is all just a guess and an exact cause for menopause and dolphins can remain a mystery to science. There is almost no archaeological evidence that shows the evolution of this phenomenon. People have never detected any signs of menopause in fossils.