Reproductive success: Which meaning?

Abstract

The theory of kin selection (the part played by behavior in the changes of mean inclusive fitness) induced many human sociobiologists to think that since behavior was involved in the increase in fitness, this last entity could apply to the individual. Approximated by the individual's lifetime reproductive success, this measure became the keyword of studies linking social and cultural behavior to biological adaptive processes. To be commonly applicable to human populations, it had to be simplified to represent the number of offspring reaching sexual maturity and most existing studies are based on this definition. The current trend, however, seems to consider that, like inbreeding, reproductive success takes its signification in the depth of successive generations. These diverse measures were tested in two traditional populations, Berber and Aymara, and show that finding a satisfactory evaluation of reproductive success is a problem that is still far from a solution.

Kin influence on female reproductive behavior: The evidence from reconstitution of the Bejsce parish registers, 18th to 20th centuries, Poland

“…The assumption about the positive relationship between kin help and individual reproductive performance forces us to consider the potential pathways of the influence and how this positive relationship could possibly emerge. If we want to account for the positive relationship between kin-oriented help and the reproductive success of the recipient, we have to consider both components of reproductive success: the number of offspring produced and the number of survivors (Crognier, 2003). First, if we assume that kinsmen influence the number of offspring produced, then we should also assume that they should most affect the parity transition.…”

Foraging Performance, Prosociality, and Kin Presence Do Not Predict Lifetime Reproductive Success in Batek Hunter-Gatherers

“…This contrasts (but is not mutually exclusive) with the "forward method," in which a researcher infers the features of a relevant evolutionary environment and the fitness of different phenotypic variants in that environment before asking whether observed phenotypes are those hypothesized to have the highest fitness (Sherman and Reeve 1997). The concept of RS has been controversial in the scientific literature, often because of the different definitions that have been used (Crognier 2003). Here we define RS in biological terms as the number of offspring produced over the life course (fertility) and the number of offspring surviving past the age of five (number of surviving offspring).…”

Firstborn sex defines early childhood growth of subsequent siblings

“…From an evolutionary perspective, reproductive success represents an individuals number of offspring reaching sexual maturity [1,2]. This implies that beyond the transmission of heritable characteristics to successive generations, offspring quality in terms of survival and fecundity is shaped by a multitude of environmental factors.…”