A human female is born, lives her life, and dies within the space of a few decades, but the shape of her life has been strongly influenced by 50 million years of primate evolution and more than 100 million years of mammalian evolution. How the individual female plays out the stages of her life--from infancy, through the reproductive period, to old age--and how these stages have been formed by a long evolutionary process, is the theme of this collection. Written by leading scholars in fields ranging from evolutionary biology to cultural anthropology, these essays together examine what it means to be female, integrating the life histories of marine mammals, monkeys, apes, and humans. The result is a fascinating inquiry into the similarities among the ways females of different species balance the need for survival with their role in reproduction and mothering.
The Evolving Female offers an outlook integrating life history with an intimate examination of female life paths. Behavior, anatomy and physiology, growth and development, cultural identity of women, the individual, and the society are among the topics investigated. In addition to the editors, the contributors are Linda Fedigan, Kathryn Ono, Joanne Reiter, Barbara Smuts, Mariko Hiraiwa-Hasegawa, Mary McDonald Pavelka, Caroline Pond, Robin McFarland, Silvana Borgognini Tarli and Elena Repetto, Gilda Morelli, Patricia Draper, Catherine Panter-Brick, Virginia J. Vitzthum, Alison Jolly, and Beverly McLeod.
Recenzijas
"The volume is a good introduction to and review of the topic of female life history, and requires minimal background in the biological and social sciences." * Choice *
Contributors vii(2) Acknowledgments ix(2) What Is Life History? xi PART I. PERSPECTIVES ON LIFE-HISTORY STUDIES 1(26)
1. Life History, the Individual, and Evolution 3(12) Mary Ellen Morbeck
2. Changing views of Female Life Histories 15(12) Linda Marie Fedigan PART II. NATURAL HISTORY AND LIFE-HISTORY STUDIES: THE MAMMALS 27(26) What It Means Be a Mammal 29(5)
3. Sea Lions, Life History, and Reproduction 34(12) Kathryn Ono
4. Life History and Reproductive Success of Female Northern Elephant Seals 46(7) Joanne Reiter PART III. NATURAL HISTORY AND LIFE-HISTORY STUDIES: THE PRIMATES 53(52) What It Means to Be a Primate 55(5)
5. Social Relationships and Life Histories of Primates 60(9) Barbara B. Smuts
6. Development of Sex Difference in Nonhuman Primates 69(7) Mariko Hiraiwa-Hasegawa
7. The Social Life of Female Japanese Monkeys 76(10) Mary S. McDonald Pavelka
8. Natural History of Apes: Life-History Features in Females and Males 86(19) Adrienne L. Zihlman PART IV. ANATOMY, PHYSIOLOGY, AND VARIATION: THE CATARRHINES 105(72) What It Means to Be a Catarrhine 107(10)
9. Reading Life History in Teeth, Bones, and Fossils 117(15) Mary Ellen Morbeck
10. The Cost of Reproduction and the Evolution of Postmenopausal Osteoporosis 132(15) Alison Galloway
11. The Biological Origins of Adipose Tissue in Humans 147(16) Caroline M. Pond
12. Female Primates: Fat or Fit? 163(14) Robin McFarland PART V. WOMEN IN HUMAN SOCIETIES 177(82) What It Means to Be a Human 179(6)
13. Womens Bodies, Womens Lives: An Evolutionary Perspective 185(13) Adrienne L. Zihlman
14. Sex Differences in Human Populations: Change through Time 198(11) Silvana M. Borgognini Tarli Elena Repetto
15. Growing Up Female in a Farmer Community and a Forager Community 209(11) Gilda A. Morelli
16. Institutional, Evolutionary, and Demographic Contexts of Gender Roles: A Case Study of! Kung Bushmen 220(13) Patricia Draper
17. Womens Work and Energetics: A Case Study from Nepal 233(9) Catherine Panter-Brick
18. Flexibility and Paradox: The Nature of Adaptation in Human Reproduction 242(17) Virginia J. Vitzthum PART VI. LIFE HISTORY, FEMALES, AND EVOLUTION 259(18) Life History, Females, and Evolution 261(1)
19. Social Intelligence and Sexual Reproduction: Evolutionary Strategies 262(8) Alison Jolly
20. Life History, Females, and Evolution: A Commentary 270(7) Beverly McLeod Literature Cited 277(50) Index 327
Mary Ellen Morbeck teaches and conducts research at the University of Arizona, Departments of Anthropology and Cell Biology and Anatomy. Alison Galloway and Adrienne L. Zihlman both teach anthropology and conduct research at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
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