Orca
Blijft een interessant vraagstuk, waarom mensen als 1 van de weinige dieren blijven leven nadat de periode van vruchtbaarheid is afgelopen. Ik las hierover een interessant artikel bij National geographic, Why Killer Whales Go Through Menopause But Elephants Don’t.
But resident killer whales differ from elephants in one critical respect: their sons and daughters stay in the groups where they were born. This means that as a female grows older, her pod becomes increasingly full of her own children and grandchildren. Over time, she becomes increasingly related to her neighbours, and she shares more and more of her genes with her neighbours. This creates a powerful impetus to shift her efforts away from having more children, and towards helping her existing descendants.