Adolescence in evolutionary perspective

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Abstract
This article reviews progress in the application of evolution theory to human growth and development, particularly adolescence. Evolution theory includes a variety of topics and only two of these are treated here: life history and biocultural modelling. “A broad definition of life history includes not only the traditional foci such as age–related fecundity and mortality rates, but also the entire sequence of behavioural, physiological, and morphological changes that an organism passes through during its development from conception to death” (1). This approach may be applied to both the study of the stages of life of modern people and to the evolution of the human pattern of growth.