Lifespan Development: Evolutionary Perspectives

Abstract

From an evolutionary perspective, reproductive success can be understood as the driving force for specific developmental pathways, which present coherent answers to contextual demands. The sequence and structure of developmental stages across the life span constitute reproductive styles that promise best inclusive fitness within the respective context. Although the prolongation of the life span in humans compared with all others species is certainly a result of selective forces, senescence, i.e., biological aging, seems not to be shaped by natural selection, but rather a by-product of earlier neutral or beneficial gene expression. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.