Chimpanzees have also been shown to have menopause.

2023/10/30 Galarraga Aiestaran, Ana - Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Eboluzioa
• Zoologia
• Anatomia/Fisiologia

 

An international study reveals that wild chimpanzees also suffer menopause. Specifically, they claim that chimpanzees at Kibale National Park in Uganda survive 20% of their lives after losing their reproductive capacity. The work has been led by scientists from the University of California (USA) and the Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology Max Planck (Germany) and published in the journal Science.

So far, scientists believed that, in addition to humans, only a few marine mammals suffered menopause and explained this particularity through the grandmother hypothesis. For example, recently, another study has shown that females keep an amateur bond with their pups, even when they become adults.

However, primates thought they did not lose their reproductive capacity until they were near death. Research in Kibal dismisses this belief that these females live many years after menopause. However, they have not found signs of support for the grandmother's hypothesis, that is, they are not related to their daughters or their offspring.

Thus, researchers recognize that little research has been done to determine whether other mammals have menopause and what happens at this stage of life.