They found older females experienced changes in hormones, similar to female humans entering menopause. The timing of these hormone changes was also similar to humans.
Ma Rainey, a post-reproductive female of the Ngogo community of chimpanzees in Kibale National Park, Uganda, and her adult son Wes. Nearly 200 chimpanzees are part of the Ngogo community in western Uganda, but Garbo stands out. With deep wrinkles around her eyes and a hefty stature, the mother chimpanzee has the energy of a strong-willed heroine like those played by her namesake, Hollywood actress Greta Garbo.
She’s also around 67 years old, living many years past her biologic ability to have children — a startling observation only previously seen naturally in people and a handful of toothed whale species., researchers found female chimpanzees in the Ngogo conservation site spend around 20 percent of their adult years in a state of menopause, surviving well past the end of their ability to reproduce.
Most chimp populations don’t reach the age of 50 “due to the recent negative impacts of humans,” said Kevin Langergraber, a study author and anthropologist at Arizona State University. For instance, he said people can spread new diseases — even as simple as the common cold — that can wipe out chimp populations.Relatively undisturbed by people, Ngogo is one of two research sites that the Ugandan government maintains in Kibale National Park.
“The patterns of fertility in Ngogo and in humans actually have this similar shape,” said Langergraber. “It’s the same physiological mechanism that has underlying reproductive cessation in chimps as it is in humans.”But explaining why chimps experience menopause is a much harder question. Although the biology appears to be the same between chimpanzees and humans, the explanations for menopause occurs seem to be different.
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