Human mortality improvement in evolutionary context
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Comparative demographic analysis using historical, ethnographic, and primate datasets (by design analogy, non-clinical).
OpenAlex W2047563535 · doi:10.1073/pnas.1215627109
What was done
The authors compared the rate and magnitude of mortality reduction across modern human populations against an estimated evolved human mortality profile (derived from ethnographically observed hunter-gatherers), wild chimpanzee mortality, and lifespan extensions from animal laboratory selection/mutation experiments.
What was found
The abstract reports that the mortality difference between hunter-gatherers and modern lowest-mortality populations is larger than the difference between hunter-gatherers and wild chimpanzees. Most of this reduction occurred after 1900, spanning approximately 4 of roughly 8,000 human generations, matching or exceeding lifespan extensions achieved in laboratory model organisms. Specific numerical mortality rates, percentages, and confidence intervals were not provided in the abstract.
Why it matters
This analysis demonstrates extreme evolutionary plasticity in human mortality over a very brief historical window, challenging traditional theories of aging that assume fixed age-specific mortality limits.
Limits
The abstract lacks explicit sample sizes, specific population counts, and exact numerical estimates. Utilizing modern ethnographic hunter-gatherers as a proxy for ancestral hominins relies on unverified assumptions about prehistoric human mortality profiles.
Cited by
- supports Historically across human evolution, approximately 50% of people born died by age 15 from infection.