It is not obvious why selection should favor menopause or the continued survival of individuals that can no longer reproduce. The famous Grandmother Hypothesis had been used to explain the evolutionary significance of menopause. A new study conducted on the Ngogo chimpanzees community of wild chimpanzees in Uganda challenges this hypothesis. Science 27 Oct 2023 Vol 382, Issue 6669 DOI: 10.1126/science.add547
This is weird, i always assumed all other mammals went through it too. Why wouldnt they?
Maybe because most mammals don’t menstruate. Only humans and a few others do, like bats and some apes.
All placental mammals menstruate, most of them just reabsorb the endometrium internally instead of shedding it. Most mammal females are also not in heat all year round.
They don’t live long enough to go through menopause. Ever met a female cat that lived into her 50s?
We may soon discover that orcas also experience menopause as soon as some daring team of whale biologists carries out a similar study collecting orca pee.
Some whales have menopause too I think.
And elephants.