Age at menarche as a fitness trait: further considerations.
Year: 1991
Type: article
Abstract: The extensive twin study of Treloar and Manin (1990) shows that most of the genetic variance of the age at menarche (AM) is nonadditive, typical of traits affecting genetic fitness. This is an important addition to our understanding of this major, but still elusive, physiological landmark. I wish to comment on their key assumption that earlier AM, on average, does in fact produce increased fertility. First, it Seems remarkable to me that there appear to be very few tests of this assumption, such as corre-lating AM with number ofIive~born children ever born (granting the problem of recall of AM in older women) or even with the age of the first-born child. The au-thors do not mention such tests. The only explicit test known to me is my own, and it supports the assump-
Source: Europe PMC (PubMed Central)
Author: T E Reed
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1259505772