Increased Daily Travel in Animals Leads to More Offspring
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 - 15:28
in Biology & Nature
The more an animal walks during the day, the less energy it has to reproduce. Makes sense right? Not so fast, say two researchers at Washington University in St. Louis. They claim, based on a study of 161 mammalian species, that on average, animals which travel the longest distance each day to find food have the most offspring. The study, the first of its kind aimed at disproving the long-standing theory that more walking equates to less reproduction, was conducted by Herman Pontzer, Ph.D., assistant professor, and Jason Kamilar, Ph.D., research associate, both in anthropology in Arts & Sciences.