Question

1. Life expectancies differ across populations. Life expectancy at birth in the U.S. is currently around 78 years (76 for males; 81 for females). Consider a population in which life expectancy at birth is 50. Given what you know about life history theory, discuss how this population would differ from the U.S. across the following life history characteristics: age at first marriage, age at first reproduction, total fertility (number of children born per female), length of time spent in school, and money spent on education. Be sure to support your predictions using life history theory.

2. The following data on interbirth interval (time between births), child survivorship, and percent of children married were collected to evaluate reproductive decisions within a population. Assuming a woman of this population has a 20-year reproductive span (maximum time available from first to last birth), use these data to 1) calculate the maximum number of live births a woman could have, and 2) determine the number of births that will lead to the highest fitness (surviving children who marry) if we assume that all married children will have the same number of offspring. To receive credit, you must show your work. Lastly, what are the implications of your results?

% child %

IBI (months) Survivorship ever married

12	0.6	0.4
15	0.64	0.47
18	0.68	0.54
21	0.72	0.61
24	0.76	0.68
27	0.8	0.75
30	0.84	0.82
33	0.88	0.89
36	0.88	0.96
39	0.89	0.96
42	0.9	0.96
45	0.91	0.96
48	0.92	0.96
51	0.93	0.96
54	0.94	0.96
57	0.95	0.96
60	0.96	0.96