Centre for Behaviour and Evolution, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, UK.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2011 Feb 12;366(1563):357-65. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2010.0073.
From an ultimate perspective, the age of onset of female reproduction should be sensitive to variation in mortality rates, and variation in the productivity of non-reproductive activities. In accordance with this prediction, most of the cross-national variation in women's age at first birth can be explained by differences in female life expectancies and incomes. The within-country variation in England shows a similar pattern: women have children younger in neighbourhoods where the expectation of healthy life is shorter and incomes are lower. I consider the proximate mechanisms likely to be involved in producing locally appropriate reproductive decisions. There is evidence suggesting that developmental induction, social learning and contextual evocation may all play a role.
从终极角度来看，女性生殖的起始年龄应该对死亡率和非生殖活动生产力的变化敏感。根据这一预测，大多数国家间女性初育年龄的差异可以用女性预期寿命和收入的差异来解释。英国国内的差异也呈现出类似的模式：在预期健康寿命较短和收入较低的社区，女性生育子女的年龄较小。我考虑了可能涉及产生局部适当生殖决策的近似机制。有证据表明，发育诱导、社会学习和环境唤起都可能发挥作用。
