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Energy economy in the evolution of menstruation
Author(s) -
Strassmann Beverly I.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
evolutionary anthropology: issues, news, and reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.401
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1520-6505
pISSN - 1060-1538
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1520-6505(1996)5:5<157::aid-evan4>3.0.co;2-c
Subject(s) - menstruation , primatology , reproductive physiology , biological evolution , biology , ecology , physiology , endocrinology , genetics
Compared with other aspects of mammalian reproductive physiology, we know surprisingly little about menstruation. Medical research has illuminated many of the proximate mechanisms that bring menstruation about, but has left us in the dark as to why menstruation evolved. Evolutionary anthropology provides the expertise in primatology and evolutionary biology needed to shift the emphasis in this field from How to Why.