Live fast, die young, leave a good-looking offspring: longevity and reproduction trade-offs in rural Spain (1536–1965)

IF 3 1区心理学 Q1 BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

Evolution and Human Behavior Pub Date : 2025-03-01 DOI:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2025.106673

Francisco J. Marco-Gracia , Ángel Luis González-Esteban

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

One of the most debated evolutionary theories is the trade-off between fertility and longevity. Specifically, women who experience more childbirths may have a shorter lifespan due to reduced opportunities for their bodies to recover from the associated costs. Previous studies have produced varied results, largely due to the challenge of distinguishing evolutionary factors from genetic and environmental influences in human societies. Since both longevity and fertility patterns tend to be inherited across generations, long-term historical longitudinal population samples are particularly valuable for exploring this trade-off, as they not only provide large population samples across different temporal contexts but also allow for the control of intergenerational transmission of behavior. In this study, we use a sample of 5097 women from rural Spain (based on parish records from 17 villages) who died between the sixteenth and twenty-first centuries to investigate whether a trade-off between fertility and longevity has existed. In all cases, we can control for the experiences of their parents. Our findings reveal a substantial negative impact of parity on women's longevity, as well as the adverse effect of having an early birth before fertility control was established. Additionally, we observed a significant negative effect of a prolonged reproductive cycle on natural fertility.

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活得快，死得早，留下漂亮的后代：西班牙农村的寿命和繁殖权衡（1536-1965）

最具争议的进化理论之一是生育能力和寿命之间的权衡。具体来说，生育次数多的女性可能寿命较短，因为她们的身体从相关成本中恢复的机会较少。先前的研究产生了不同的结果，主要是由于在人类社会中将进化因素与遗传和环境影响区分开来的挑战。由于寿命和生育模式都倾向于跨代遗传，因此长期历史纵向人口样本对于探索这种权衡尤其有价值，因为它们不仅提供了跨越不同时间背景的大量人口样本，而且还允许控制行为的代际传递。在这项研究中，我们使用了来自西班牙农村的5097名妇女（基于来自17个村庄的教区记录）的样本，这些妇女死于16世纪至21世纪，以调查生育率与寿命之间是否存在权衡。在所有情况下，我们都可以控制他们父母的经历。我们的研究结果揭示了性别平等对女性寿命的重大负面影响，以及在生育控制建立之前过早生育的不利影响。此外，我们观察到延长的生殖周期对自然生育的显著负面影响。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Evolution and Human Behavior 生物-行为科学

CiteScore

8.30

自引率

9.80%

发文量

审稿时长

82 days

期刊介绍： Evolution and Human Behavior is an interdisciplinary journal, presenting research reports and theory in which evolutionary perspectives are brought to bear on the study of human behavior. It is primarily a scientific journal, but submissions from scholars in the humanities are also encouraged. Papers reporting on theoretical and empirical work on other species will be welcome if their relevance to the human animal is apparent.