https://gregladen.com/blog/2007/12/16/life-history-tradeoffs-explain/ Mon, 17 Dec 2007 08:48:09 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.8 https://gregladen.com/blog/2007/12/16/life-history-tradeoffs-explain/#comment-1944 Mon, 17 Dec 2007 08:48:09 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2007/12/16/life-history-tradeoffs-explain/#comment-1944 Thanks for the post.

]]> https://gregladen.com/blog/2007/12/16/life-history-tradeoffs-explain/#comment-1943 Mon, 17 Dec 2007 01:24:13 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2007/12/16/life-history-tradeoffs-explain/#comment-1943 Human growth and sexual maturation, while multiply linked, are also modularized and dissociable. Too much so for a globally and profoundly important trait like small body size to be a mere “by-product of selection for early onset of reproduction.” Life history correlates aren’t simply the result of developmental constraints, but arise from functional complexes.A “by-product” hypothesis might be plausible if there were intense and recent selection for life history change resulting in highly suboptimal developmentally linked trait associations. If this were recent enough and/or in a small population with limited variation, beneficially modifying mutations may not be able to arise.Correct or not, these hypotheses require more investigation of the developmental mechanisms of stature and reproduction (including leptin, IGF etc.) in each of these “pygmy” populations.

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