Menopause is one of nature’s greatest evolutionary mysteries. From a survivalist standpoint, there’s no advantage to a species for an individual to continue living beyond reproductive years. Menopausal individuals theoretically use up precious resources that could go to more reproducing members or their young. (Yikes, brutal.) In fact, most other mammals can reproduce their entire lifespan. Elephants can reproduce into their 60s, and baleen whales into their 90s.
