Debra S. Judge

Darwin and the puzzle of primogeniture

A historical survey of the inheritance practices of farming families in North America and elsewhere indicates that resource allocations among children differed through time and space with regard to sex bias and equality. Tensions between provisioning all children and maintaining a productive economic entity (the farm) were resolved in various ways, depending on population pressures, the family’s relative resource level, and the number and sex of children.Against a backdrop of generalized son preference, parents responded to ecological circumstances by investing in offspring differentially within and between the sexes. Vesting the preponderance of family resources in one heir increased the likelihood of at least one line surviving across several generations, whereas varying degrees of parental investment in emigrating sons or out-marrying daughters might yield boom or bust harvests of grandchildren according to circumstances in more remote locales. Primogeniture (eldest son as primary heir) allowed early identification of heirs and appropriate socialization, as well as more time for parents to contribute to the heir’s reproductive success. Son bias and unigeniture decreased as numbers of children per family declined, as land became less critical to economic success, and as legal changes improved the resource-holding potential of females. We suggest that changing ecological conditions affected parental decisions regarding resource allocation among children at least as much as did changing ideologies of parent-child relations.

Allocation of accumulated resources among close kin: Inheritance in Sacramento, California, 1890–1984

Abstract We analyze the legacies of 1538 testate decedents from Sacramento, California 1890–1984. Spouse and/or children received an average 92% of the state. The few women who were survived by a spouse more often excluded their husbands in favor of their children than did husbands exclude wives. We explain this difference in spousal treatment in terms of the reproductive potential of the two sexes at the average age of death. Fathers and mothers without spouses bequeathed the majority of assets to children. Seventy-one percent of parents with two or more children treated them absolutely equally. Sex ratio among offspring was equal. There was no evidence of a general sex preference or a wealth by sex-preference interaction. Decedents with two or more daughters treated them more equitably than did decedents with two or more sons— additional evidence that treatment of daughters is less subject to environmental and individual variation than is the treatment of sons. Decedents without biological children treated adopted children like biological children. Smaller legacies to the few adopted children in families with biological children can be explained by increased sibship size.

American legacies and the variable life histories of women and men

Sex differences in behavior are most interesting when they are the result of inherent differences in the operational rules motivating behavior and not merely a reflection of differing life history experiences. American men and women exhibit a few differences in testamentary patterns of property allocation that appear to be due to inherently different rules of allocation. Even when analyses control for resources and surviving kin configurations, women distribute their property among a greater number of individual beneficiaries than do men. The most striking differences in property allocation between men and women occur within the nuclear family and reflect differences in reproductive life span and the resulting reproductive conflicts between spouses that can endure beyond death.

Early life environment, life history and risk of endometrial cancer

Endometrial cancer risk is influenced by reproductive behaviours, including parity and breastfeeding, and timing of life history events such as age at menarche and menopause. One potential mechanism by which altered reproductive strategies may influence endometrial cancer risk is through exposure to reproductive hormones. Current theory suggests that high lifetime exposure to oestrogen, unopposed by progesterone, increases endometrial cancer risk; here we suggest that progesterone deficiency itself may also play a significant role. Additionally, given that reproductive profile variables are themselves influenced by early childhood conditions, we hypothesise that endometrial cancer risk may be influenced by the childhood psychosocial environment as mediated through changes to adolescent and adult reproductive behaviours and hormone exposures. Investigating reproductive cancers, including endometrial cancer, using a life history approach may help to increase understanding of why these cancers occur and potentially help implementation of early detection and screening processes in the future.

Vocal Responses of Captive Gibbon Groups to a Mate Change in a Pair of White-Cheeked Gibbons (Nomascus leucogenys)

The singing behaviour of 3 pairs of white-cheeked gibbons (Nomascus leucogenys) held at the Perth Zoo was observed for 6 months in 2005. These groups included a family (mated pair and 2 immature offspring) and a pair without offspring. During the study, the female without offspring was exchanged for an unpaired female from New Zealand. After the new pair had been released onto the island enclosure and began to duet, the duetting rate of the white-cheeked gibbon family increased. The increased singing began after the new female had started to sing solo female great calls. These observations support the hypothesis that duets have an intergroup communication function in white-cheeked gibbons. The pair that duetted most frequently also copulated most frequently but allogroomed the least. We suggest that duetting may be more important to intergroup relations than to pair bond maintenance in this species.

Embryonic and juvenile attachment structures in Cherax cainii (Decapoda: Parastacidae): Implications for maternal care

ABSTRACT Fertilised eggs, stage one and stage two juveniles of the smooth marron, Cherax cainii, are attached to the pleopods of the gravid female via specialised structures. The eggs are fixed to the maternal pleopods by egg stalks, whereas stage one and stage two juveniles remain attached by recurved spines on the dactyls of their fourth and fifth pereopods. Crayfish of the third juvenile stage are independent of the mother and receive no maternal care; their dactyl spines are straight and cannot grasp the mothers pleopods; the female displays agonistic behaviour toward her young commencing with stage III instars. We suggest that eggs and the first two juvenile stages attached to the mother would experience reduced levels of predation and be secured against strong river flow. We conclude by reviewing, briefly, the potential fitness costs and benefits of maternal care, to the mother and young of freshwater crayfish, from a life-history perspective.

Macaca radiata: Intragroup relations and reproductive status of females

A 21-day study of captive bonnet macaques at the California Primate Research Center during the 1973 birth season showed that females with new infants are spaced significantly closer to a central adult male than are pregnant females.

Child size and household characteristics in rural Timor-Leste.

The main objective was to determine those characteristics of the family and household that affects child health (as measured by child size for age) in the rural Ossu area of Timor‐Leste.

Household agricultural activities and child growth: evidence from rural Timor-Leste

Childhood under-nutrition and malnutrition are prevalent in low and middle-income countries. Where it is the primary source of food production, consumption, and cash income, agriculture has a close relationship with health and nutrition in these emerging economies. Although Timor-Leste achieved lower middle-income status in 2011, national economic growth has not delivered anticipated nutritional dividends. Seeking to redress a lack of research that clearly demonstrates how agriculture impacts on nutrition in Timor-Leste, we investigated the links between household agricultural activities and childrens physical growth in two agro-ecologically varying field sites: lowland Natarbora and mountainous Ossu. Children in both sites were below World Health Organization standards in height, weight, and body mass index. Coastal children recorded better growth than upland children. Livestock production was linked to poorer growth in the upland, but not coastal communities, which may be linked to specific differences in husbandry practices. In both communities, access to a plantation was somewhat associated with childrens (0–10 years) increased weight-for-age. As simple agricultural indicators do not fully explain growth outcomes, a livelihood security approach is proposed to better understand how households address food and nutritional needs in relation to broader livelihood concerns.

Household resources and seasonal patterns of child growth in rural Timor‐Leste

This study aimed to determine through detailed contextual investigation the effects of seasonal resource shortages, and household and individual level differences, on child growth in rural Timor‐Leste. We compared trends in growth across two rural Timorese villages with different ecologies.