Which animals have menopause

We must be on to something. But what? What makes female humans, short-finned pilot whales and killer whales throw in the towel after the 5th inning of the baby-making game? As is demonstrated in the comedy classic Father of the Bride 2. Comedy ensues. This theory helps to explain why a woman tends to go through menopause just as her children become ready to reproduce.

So what do people, killer whales and short-finned pilot whales have in common when it comes to reproductive conflict? We care for our young for a long time. We live in packs. And we hunt in groups. But so do lots of social mammals. The more typical pattern is for younger females to help older females rather than the reverse — we need to look deeper to find out what causes the switch.

One piece of the puzzle may lie in the fact that human females unlike most female mammals, who tend to stay put often leave their own families to join the families of their husbands. Postmenopausal women are the civilizing force of society. Female orcas run the pack and teach their children and grandchildren how to hunt and their boys, like Italian boys, seem to take forever before they leave home, in fact, they never leave home. Orcas aren't sexually mature until their mid teens, later for males, and they aren't very good hunters until then as well.

Sound familiar? So, two, why isn't it so good for the tribe for women to die right after baby making is over? Well we talked about that. Grandmothers help the moms be better mothers. So why don't we make babies until we're 80? Men can. I think all of you who have had children can answer that one. Children who give birth very late in life are more likely to die before their adolescents can stand on their own emotional and financial feet. And pregnancy is really hard on the heart.

So, three, how is menopause different from aging? Well the ovary starts losing eggs before we are even born and we see peak fertility in the 20s. Fertility declines in the 30s and plummets in the 40s and is rare in the 50s. They average age for menopause in American women of all races is about 50, 51 for Caucasian women and the range is 40 to The menopause is your last natural period. She was an orca, or killer whale—part of a strong group called J-pod that lives in the Pacific Northwest.

That pod has been studied by scientists for over 40 years, and Granny has always been a common sight, identifiable by the small half-moon notch in her back fin and the grey saddle patch behind it. In the last four decades, she has never given birth to a calf. Almost all animals reproduce until they die, even very long-lived ones like elephants and blue whales. As far as we know, just three species buck the trend: killer whales, short-finned pilot whales, and humans. Women go through menopause between 45 and 55 even though they live for a long time more; the same is true for hunter-gatherers without access to modern medicine.

Likewise, female killer whales stop reproducing in their 30s or 40s, but might live for decades more. Why give up so many chances to pass your genes to the next generation? This question is really two separate ones. First, why stop reproducing early? Second, why survive beyond that point? The same is true for killer whales. We know this because scientists led by Ken Balcomb have spent the last 40 years monitoring the lives, family ties, and deaths of the Pacific Northwest orcas—Granny included.

In , Croft, Balcomb, and student Emma Foster used that census to show that mothers clearly help their children to survive—and their sons in particular.

So mother orcas, especially older ones, are somehow helping to keep their sons alive and older sons in particular.