Authors
Kevin R Foster, Francis LW Ratnieks
Publication date
2005/7/1
Source
Trends in Ecology & Evolution
Volume
20
Issue
7
Pages
363-364
Publisher
Elsevier
Description
Update TRENDS in Ecology and Evolution Vol. 20 No. 7 July 2005 363 www. sciencedirect. com the workers and, later in life, some of the workers become breeders. In females, this switch involves a morphological change with elongation of lumbar vertebrae to enable enhanced fertility. Recent data show that distinct reproductive and helping strategies also occur in a more familiar vertebrate species, but in the reverse temporal sequence to mole rats. In mid-adult life, half the breeders become physiologically incapable of reproducing and help their close relatives. Uniquely for a vertebrate, the helpers are permanently sterile. What species is this? It is our own.
Middle-aged women become sterile via the menopause. This regulated, rapid and irreversible physiological change is distinct from senescence, the gradual reduction in physical ability with age [1, 2]. Two fitness-based hypotheses have been proposed to …
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KR Foster, FLW Ratnieks - Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 2005