Evidence for a maximum “shelf-life” of oocytes in mammals suggests that human menopause may be an implication of meiotic arrest
Abstract There is an ongoing debate why a trait like human menopause should have evolved. Adaptive explanations explain menopause with fitness benefits of ceasing reproduction, whereas non-adaptive explanations view it as an epiphenomenon. Here we present data in support of non-adaptive explanations...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-32502-2 |
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doaj-b3559e1fdf9c4f28a63ade279b397f352020-12-08T03:43:12ZengNature Publishing GroupScientific Reports2045-23222018-09-01811510.1038/s41598-018-32502-2Evidence for a maximum “shelf-life” of oocytes in mammals suggests that human menopause may be an implication of meiotic arrestSusanne Huber0Martin Fieder1Department of Anthropology, University of ViennaDepartment of Anthropology, University of ViennaAbstract There is an ongoing debate why a trait like human menopause should have evolved. Adaptive explanations explain menopause with fitness benefits of ceasing reproduction, whereas non-adaptive explanations view it as an epiphenomenon. Here we present data in support of non-adaptive explanations of menopause suggesting a maximum shelf-life of oocytes. By analyzing the association between lifespan and age at reproductive senescence across 49 mammal species, we find that the positive association levels off in long lived species, indicating that the age at reproductive senescence has an upper limit. Only in baleen whales there seems to be no evidence for reproductive senescence. We suggest that apart from the baleen whales, the confinement of reproductive senescence in long-lived species may be the result of physiological constraints imposed by the long period of time oocytes remain inactive in an arrested phase of meiosis from their production in utero until ovulation. We therefore conclude that menopause may be an implication of the long duration of meiotic arrest caused by semelgametogenesis together with long lifespan.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-32502-2Meiotic ArrestHuman Meno PausalMaximum Shelf-lifeBaleen WhalesTime Oocytes |
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DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Susanne Huber Martin Fieder |
spellingShingle |
Susanne Huber Martin Fieder Evidence for a maximum “shelf-life” of oocytes in mammals suggests that human menopause may be an implication of meiotic arrest Scientific Reports Meiotic Arrest Human Meno Pausal Maximum Shelf-life Baleen Whales Time Oocytes |
author_facet |
Susanne Huber Martin Fieder |
author_sort |
Susanne Huber |
title |
Evidence for a maximum “shelf-life” of oocytes in mammals suggests that human menopause may be an implication of meiotic arrest |
title_short |
Evidence for a maximum “shelf-life” of oocytes in mammals suggests that human menopause may be an implication of meiotic arrest |
title_full |
Evidence for a maximum “shelf-life” of oocytes in mammals suggests that human menopause may be an implication of meiotic arrest |
title_fullStr |
Evidence for a maximum “shelf-life” of oocytes in mammals suggests that human menopause may be an implication of meiotic arrest |
title_full_unstemmed |
Evidence for a maximum “shelf-life” of oocytes in mammals suggests that human menopause may be an implication of meiotic arrest |
title_sort |
evidence for a maximum “shelf-life” of oocytes in mammals suggests that human menopause may be an implication of meiotic arrest |
publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
series |
Scientific Reports |
issn |
2045-2322 |
publishDate |
2018-09-01 |
description |
Abstract There is an ongoing debate why a trait like human menopause should have evolved. Adaptive explanations explain menopause with fitness benefits of ceasing reproduction, whereas non-adaptive explanations view it as an epiphenomenon. Here we present data in support of non-adaptive explanations of menopause suggesting a maximum shelf-life of oocytes. By analyzing the association between lifespan and age at reproductive senescence across 49 mammal species, we find that the positive association levels off in long lived species, indicating that the age at reproductive senescence has an upper limit. Only in baleen whales there seems to be no evidence for reproductive senescence. We suggest that apart from the baleen whales, the confinement of reproductive senescence in long-lived species may be the result of physiological constraints imposed by the long period of time oocytes remain inactive in an arrested phase of meiosis from their production in utero until ovulation. We therefore conclude that menopause may be an implication of the long duration of meiotic arrest caused by semelgametogenesis together with long lifespan. |
topic |
Meiotic Arrest Human Meno Pausal Maximum Shelf-life Baleen Whales Time Oocytes |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-32502-2 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT susannehuber evidenceforamaximumshelflifeofoocytesinmammalssuggeststhathumanmenopausemaybeanimplicationofmeioticarrest AT martinfieder evidenceforamaximumshelflifeofoocytesinmammalssuggeststhathumanmenopausemaybeanimplicationofmeioticarrest |
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