Grandmas made humans live longer

SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 24, 2012 - Computer simulations provide new mathematical support for the "grandmother hypothesis" - a famous theory that humans evolved longer adult lifespans than apes because grandmothers helped feed their grandchildren.

"Grandmothering was the initial step toward making us who we are," says Kristen Hawkes, a distinguished professor of anthropology at the University of Utah and senior author of the new study published Oct. 24 by the British journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Read more here: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-10/uou-gmh101912.php