The derived features of human life history

This chapter compares and contrasts the life histories of extant great apes in order to construct a hypothetical life history of the last common ancestor of all great apes and to identify features of human life history that have been derived during the evolution of our lineage. Data compiled from the published literature indicate some variation across the living taxa, but all great apes have relatively long lifespans and late maturity. Therefore, we infer that a slow life history is the ancestral state of all great apes. We examine variation in the timing of brain growth and aspects of dental development and find that they are not correlated in the life history variation across these species. We conclude that adjustment in growth and development, though constrained by life history, are imperfect predictors of life history variables.