Evolutionary advantage of the menopause

Human Ecology ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 477-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Mayer
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Advantage

What is the Evolutionary Advantage of Migraine?

Cephalalgia ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 624-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Loder
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Genetic Factors ◽  
Evolutionary Perspective ◽  
Defence Mechanism ◽  
Design Constraint ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Evolutionary Advantage ◽  
Evolutionary Explanations

Susceptibility to migraine is determined by genetic factors and is therefore subject to the forces of natural selection. Migraine is a common and ancient disorder whose prevalence may be increasing, suggesting that a migraine-prone nervous system may be associated with reproductive or survival advantages. Five evolutionary explanations are reviewed that might account for the persistence of migraine: (i) migraine as a defence mechanism; (ii) migraine as a result of conflict with other organisms; (iii) migraine as result of novel environmental factors; (iv) migraine as a trade-off between genetic harms and benefits; and (v) migraine as a design constraint. An evolutionary perspective on migraine allows the generation of important hypotheses about the disorder and suggests rewarding possibilities for further research.

scholarly journals Mating System and Hybridity in Eucalyptus pauciflora

1977 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 337 ◽  
Author(s):  
MA Phillips ◽  
AHD Brown
Keyword(s):  
Mating System ◽  
Outcrossing Rate ◽  
Seedling Stage ◽  
Average Heterozygosity ◽  
Evolutionary Advantage ◽  
Allozyme Polymorphisms ◽  
Self Fertilization

Allozyme polymorphisms at four loci expressed in seeds, and three other loci expressed in seedlings, were used to determine the outcrossing rate in three natural subalpine populations of snow gum (E. paucijlora). Based on the seed loci data, an estimated 37 % of seed was derived from self-fertilization and 63 % from random outcrossing. In the most elevated population the estimate after germination was similar. However, at lower elevations the frequency of effective self-fertilization estimated at the seedling stage was only 16 %. The less elevated populations also showed a greater average heterozygosity and a larger increase in heterozygosity in the adult over the progeny stages. Heterosis apparently operated differentially in these populations-it was more intense at the lower altitudes. Selection in favour of outcrossed individuals may be an important factor in checking the spread through the population of genes which promote self-fertilization, and which would otherwise enjoy an evolutionary advantage.

2. Ultrastructural Development of the Early Rat Otocyst

1977 ◽  
Vol 86 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 9-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
William F. Marovitz ◽  
Khalid M. Khan ◽  
Trina Schulte
Keyword(s):  
Stages Of Development ◽  
Surface Ectoderm ◽  
Related Function ◽  
Cellular Death ◽  
Golgi Membranes ◽  
Evolutionary Advantage ◽  
Endolymphatic Duct ◽  
Development And Differentiation ◽  
Luminal Cells

The ultrastructural development and differentiation of cells forming the rat otocyst were studied from the 9th to the 13th postcoital day (PCD). The earliest stage investigated was a simple ovoid structure with a connecting stalk to the surface ectoderm. A process of programmed cellular death involving surface ectoderm, connecting stalk, and lateral otocyst wall rapidly detached the otocyst. The cells forming the otocyst were roughly columnar, the organelles were polarized; mitochondria occurred in greatest number basally and in the supranuclear area; Golgi membranes when present were supranuclear. Luminal cells had many microvilli and cilia of various lengths were detected. The shorter, incompletely formed cilia terminated in small knob-like blebs. With each day the otocysts became more complicated and the endolymphatic duct made its appearance as an evagination of the otocyst. Many more cells were seen to have cilia in various stages of development, and by the 12th PCD possibly each cell of the main otocystic cavity had a kinocilium. Growth of the otocyst due to mitosis occurred to a great extent from a single ventromedial center. Cells in mitosis, although seen at other sites, were in greatest abundance in this area; cellular involution apparently was a related function. Together the process of over-production and programmed cellular involution of supranumerary cells not lost to other causes ( e.g., environmental) may represent an evolutionary advantage.

scholarly journals The metabolic cost of turning right side up in the Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca)

2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather E. Ewart ◽  
Peter G. Tickle ◽  
William I. Sellers ◽  
Markus Lambertz ◽  
Dane A. Crossley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Video Analysis ◽  
Metabolic Cost ◽  
Physiological Process ◽  
Specific Power ◽  
Inverted Position ◽  
Testudo Graeca ◽  
Fitness Traits ◽  
Evolutionary Advantage ◽  
Cost Of Locomotion ◽  
In The Wild

AbstractArmoured, rigid bodied animals, such as Testudines, must self-right should they find themselves in an inverted position. The ability to self-right is an essential biomechanical and physiological process that influences survival and ultimately fitness. Traits that enhance righting ability may consequently offer an evolutionary advantage. However, the energetic requirements of self-righting are unknown. Using respirometry and kinematic video analysis, we examined the metabolic cost of self-righting in the terrestrial Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoise and compared this to the metabolic cost of locomotion at a moderate, easily sustainable speed. We found that self-righting is, relatively, metabolically expensive and costs around two times the mass-specific power required to walk. Rapid movements of the limbs and head facilitate successful righting however, combined with the constraints of breathing whilst upside down, contribute a significant metabolic cost. Consequently, in the wild, these animals should favour environments or behaviours where the risk of becoming inverted is reduced.

scholarly journals Virginity Test in Police Recruitment System: Evidence from Indonesia

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 2600-2611
Author(s):  
Manotar Tampubolon
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Police Officer ◽  
Quantitative Study ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Women Empowerment ◽  
Muslim Countries ◽  
Evolutionary Advantage ◽  
Recruitment System ◽  
Virginity Testing

It is difficult for women to become police officers in Indonesia. One of the mandatory requirements is to become a virgin. Women who are no longer virgins cannot pass the selection. However, if the woman's hymen is damaged not because of sexual intercourse but because of an accident, she still hopes to become a police officer. This study aims to examine the virgin criteria as a requirement to become a policewoman in Indonesia. This quantitative study examines the virginity for police admission based on virginity requirements from a human rights perspective and the concept of innocence. Inspired by the idea of purity from Hanne Blank that celibacy does not reflect a known biological necessity and provides no demonstrable evolutionary advantage. This article says that police virginity testing is not essential and makes up discrimination of women's opportunity to become a police officer because there is no correlation between virginity and police duty. This article evaluates this activity performed Indonesian police force from the lights of human rights. It criticizes the policy development specification of Indonesia which is even poor than India and Muslim countries as even in this country women empowerment is prioritized and respected. This country is needed to incorporate changes in this policy.

scholarly journals Vitamin D deficiency exacerbates UV/endorphin and opioid addiction

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (24) ◽  
pp. eabe4577
Author(s):  
Lajos V. Kemény ◽  
Kathleen C. Robinson ◽  
Andrea L. Hermann ◽  
Deena M. Walker ◽  
Susan Regan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vitamin D ◽  
Opioid Use Disorder ◽  
Opioid Addiction ◽  
Opioid Use ◽  
Endogenous Opioid ◽  
Evolutionary Advantage ◽  
Seeking Behavior ◽  
Genetic And Environmental Factors ◽  
Dose Dependent ◽  
Genetic Mouse Models

The current opioid epidemic warrants a better understanding of genetic and environmental factors that contribute to opioid addiction. Here we report an increased prevalence of vitamin D (VitD) deficiency in patients diagnosed with opioid use disorder and an inverse and dose-dependent association of VitD levels with self-reported opioid use. We used multiple pharmacologic approaches and genetic mouse models and found that deficiencies in VitD signaling amplify exogenous opioid responses that are normalized upon restoration of VitD signaling. Similarly, physiologic endogenous opioid analgesia and reward responses triggered by ultraviolet (UV) radiation are repressed by VitD signaling, suggesting that a feedback loop exists whereby VitD deficiency produces increased UV/endorphin-seeking behavior until VitD levels are restored by cutaneous VitD synthesis. This feedback may carry the evolutionary advantage of maximizing VitD synthesis. However, unlike UV exposure, exogenous opioid use is not followed by VitD synthesis (and its opioid suppressive effects), contributing to maladaptive addictive behavior.

scholarly journals Mutation rate variability as a driving force in adaptive evolution

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalit Engelhardt ◽  
Eugene I. Shakhnovich
Keyword(s):  
Mutation Rate ◽  
Bacterial Population ◽  
Molecular Level ◽  
Fitness Function ◽  
System Level ◽  
Resistance Evolution ◽  
High Fitness ◽  
Evolutionary Advantage ◽  
Stress Result ◽  
Very High

Mutation rate is a key determinant of the pace as well as outcome of evolution, and variability in this rate has been shown in different scenarios to play a key role in evolutionary adaptation and resistance evolution under stress. Here we investigate the dynamics of resistance fixation in a bacterial population with variable mutation rates and show that evolutionary outcomes are most sensitive to mutation rate variations when the population is subject to environmental and demographic conditions that suppress the evolutionary advantage of high-fitness subpopulations. By directly mapping a molecular-level biophysical fitness function to the system-level dynamics of the population we show that both low and very high, but not intermediate, levels of stress result in a disproportionate effect of hypermutation on resistance fixation and that traditional definitions of the selection coefficient are insufficient to account for this effect. We demonstrate how this behavior is directly tied to the extent of genetic hitchhiking in the system, the propagation of high-mutation rate cells through association with high-fitness mutations. Our results indicate a substantial role for mutation rate flexibility in the evolution of antibiotic resistance under conditions that present a weak advantage over wildtype to resistant cells.

scholarly journals Autistic Spectrum Disorder in Prehistory

2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 357-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catriona Pickard ◽  
Ben Pickard ◽  
Clive Bonsall
Keyword(s):  
Population Level ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
Human Behaviour ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Autistic Spectrum ◽  
Evolutionary Advantage ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Neuropsychiatric Conditions

Individuals with ‘extraordinary’ or ‘different’ minds have been suggested to be central to invention and the spread of new ideas in prehistory, shaping modern human behaviour and conferring an evolutionary advantage at population level. In this article the potential for neuropsychiatric conditions such as autistic spectrum disorders to provide this difference is explored, and the ability of the archaeological record to provide evidence of human behaviour is discussed. Specific reference is made to recent advances in the genetics of these conditions, which suggest that neuropsychiatric disorders represent a non-advantageous, pathological extreme of the human mind and are likely a by-product rather than a cause of human cognitive evolution.

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