ABSTRACT
Life history theory is the study of the evolution and expression of growth and reproduction, including length of gestation and postnatal development, age of first reproduction, overall reproductive pattern (e.g., offspring every year or many times a year), and reproductive lifespan. The expression of these core aspects of an organism’s life is influenced by social and ecological circumstances, as well as constraints inherent to the organism. Primate life history includes relatively long lifespans, developmental periods, and more investment in offspring. Apes take the primate pattern to the extreme, and yet humans even further. Among primates, humans have the longest lifespan, a uniquely nuanced juvenile period characterized by suppression of somatic growth and enhanced brain growth, followed by a catching-up growth spurt in adolescence, late age at first reproduction, and long post-reproductive lifespan for women. Fossil evidence provides a window into how this pattern might have evolved and how it relates to the ontological expression of cognitive, cultural, and behavioral innovations that characterize Homo sapiens.
