Nature's contraceptive
- 1 April 1985
- journal article
- preface
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Journal of Biosocial Science
- Vol. 17 (S9) , 1-3
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s0021932000025086
Abstract
Our ancestors were unique in having the lowest rate of reproduction of any living mammal. This was achieved by the postponement of puberty until well into the second decade of life, a maximal probability of conception of only about 25% per menstrual cycle even when ovulation had commenced, a 4-year birth interval as a result of the contraceptive effects of breast-feeding, and sharply declining fertility during the fourth decade of life, leading to complete sterility at the menopause (Short, 1976, 1983).Keywords
This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit:
- Breast FeedingScientific American, 1984
- Sexual Selection and Its Component Parts, Somatic and Genital Selection, as Illustrated by Man and the Great ApesAdvances in the Study of Behavior, 1979
- Definition of the problem - The evolution of human reproductionProceedings of the Royal Society of London. B. Biological Sciences, 1976