GIRL OR BOY: BIRTH INTERVALS AND CHILDREN SEX AMONG WICHI

Article Sidebar

Cuadernos 45
PDF (Español (España)) HTML (Español (España))
Published: Jun 22, 2014
Keywords:
birth interval, parental investment, sex-ratio, Wichí

Main Article Content

Stella Ofelia FERRARINI
Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo - Universidad Nacional de La Plata - CONICET - 122 y 60 s/nº - CP 1900 - La Plata - Argentina
Marta Graciela MÉNDEZ

Abstract

Birth interval is, from an evolutionary perspective, measure of parental investment in a child. Parents make active decisions with respect to the length of the birth intervals, even in societies without access to artificial methods of contraconception. This parental investment can vary according to the child’s sex. The sexual preferences differ with the ecological limitations the societies face. The traditional societies based on the subsistence, exhibit fertility levels near to the natural one and they have low levels access at modern health care. Birth intervals are investigated among the Wichí mothers to estimate the time that maternal effort invest in each offspring and if there are sexual differences in the timing of the births. Mothers spaced their childbirths in mean intervals of 38.05 months. 60.8% completed intervals smaller than 36 months. The sex-ratio was biased toward women. However, the intervals opened by male were significantly longer that those open by woman. Sexual effect was not detected for the closing. Wichí reproductive strategy is directed to assure a bigger maternal investment in the male children. Either because they look for the survival of the scarcest sex that, exactly for this reason, increases their reproductive value, or because the birth interval is biologically adjusted and the mothers take more time in recovering some level of necessary physiologic condition for a next pregnancy. These mechanisms are not mutually exclusive and they can both to be operating at the same time.



Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Article Details

How to Cite
FERRARINI, S. O., & MÉNDEZ, M. G. (2014). GIRL OR BOY: BIRTH INTERVALS AND CHILDREN SEX AMONG WICHI. Cuadernos FHyCS-UNJu, (45), 137–154. Retrieved from https://revistas.fhycs.unju.edu.ar/revistacuadernos/index.php/cuadernos/article/view/149
Issue
No. 45 (2014): Cuadernos FHyCS-UNJu
Section
Original articles

The author/s grant exclusive license without temporary limit for the manuscript to be published in Cuadernos-FHyCS edited by Humanides the Faculty of Social Science, National University of Jujuy.

References

ALVARSSON, JA (1999) Foraging in town: survival strategies among the ‘Weenhayek of Bolivia and Argentina. En: MILLER, ES (Ed.) Peoples of the Gran Chaco. Bergin & Garvey, pp. 23-35. USA.

BAILEY, RC, JENIKE, MR, ELLISON, PT, BENTLEY, GR, HARRIGAN, AM and PEACOCK, NR (1992) The ecology of Barth seasonality among agriculturalists in central Africa. Journal of Biosocial Science, 24: 393-412.

BARÚA, G, DASSO, MC y FRANCESCHI, ZA (2008) El papel femenino en la convivencia Wichí del Chaco Central. En: HIRSCH, S (Coord.) Mujeres Indígenas en la Argentina. Cuerpo, Trabajo y Poder. Editorial Biblos, pp. 117-151. Buenos Aires.

BEISE, J, and VOLAND, E (2002) A multilevel event history analysis of the effects of grandmothers on child mortality in a historical German population. Demographic Research, 7 (13): 470-494.

Blanchard, R, and Bogaert, AF (1997) The relation of closed birth intervals to the sex of the preceding child and the sexual orientation of the succeeding child. Journal of Biosocial Science, 29: 111-118.

Blurton Jones, NJ (1986) Bushmen birth spacing: a test of optimal interbirth intervals. Ethology and Sociobiology, 7: 91-105.

BLURTON JONES, NJ (1987) Bushman birth spacing: direct tests of some simple predictions. Ethology and Sociobiology, 8: 183-203.

BRAUNSTEIN, JA (1977) Matrimonio y familia entre los Mataco. Cuadernos Franciscanos, 41: 143-156.

CHEN, LC, AHMED, S, MELITA, G, and MOSLEY, WH (1974). A prospective study of birth interval dynamics in rural Bangladesh. Population Studies, 28: 277-297.

CLUTTON-BROCKE, TH (1991) The Evolution of Parental Care. Princeton, NJ. Princeton University Press.

CORDEU, EJ y DE LOS RIOS, M (1982) Un enfoque estructural de las variaciones socioculturales de los cazadores-recolectores del Gran Chaco. Suplemento Antropológico, XVII (1): 131-195.

CROGNIER, E (2003) Reproductive Success: Which Meaning? American Journal of Human Biology, 15: 352-360.

CROGNIER, E, ELIZONDO, S, CARATINI, A, ZUBIETA, N, NIBORSKY, R y CARNESE, F (1996) Los comportamientos reproductivos de la población Mapuche de la provincia de Río Negro. Revista Argentina de Antropología Biológica, 1 (1): 86-97.

CRONK, L (1989) Low socioeconomic status and female-biased parental investment: the Mukogodo example. American Anthropologist, 91: 414-429.

CRONK, L (1991) Preferential parental investment in daughters over sons. Human Nature, 2 (4): 387-417.

DE LOS RIOS, MA (1977) Vida y muerte en el cosmos Mataco. Cuadernos Franciscanos, 41: 101-132.

DIAMOND, J (1986) Biology of birds of paradise and bowerbirds. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 17: 17-37.

FERRARINI, SO y MENEZ, MG (2009a) Analizando estrategias adaptativas: la proporción sexual al nacimiento en etnias chaqueñas. En: MÉNDEZ, MG (Comp.) Terra Incognita. Estudios Antropológicos en el Chaco Meridional. Editorial Universitaria de La Plata, pp. 35-55. La Plata, Argentina.

FERRARINI, SO y MENDEZ, MG (2009b) Inversión reproductiva: número, sexo y supervivencia en Chorote y Ayoreo. En: MÉNDEZ, MG (Comp.) Terra Incognita. Estudios Antropológicos en el Chaco Meridional. Editorial Universitaria de La Plata, pp. 56-74. La Plata, Argentina.

FERRARINI, SO y MENDEZ, MG (2011) Historia reproductora y análisis de la fecundidad de las mujeres Chorote, Argentina. Memorias de la Convención Internacional de Antropología Anthropos 2011. II Congreso Iberoamericano de Antropología, pp. 2941-2958. La Habana, Cuba.

FISHER, RA (1930) The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection. United Kingdom. Oxford University Press.

GEARY, DC (1998) Male, Female: The Evolution of Human Sex Differences. Washington, DC. American Psychological Association.

GRAY, SJ (1994) Comparison of effect of breast-feeding practices on birth-spacing in three societies: Nomadic Turkana, Gainj and Quechua. Journal of Biosocial Science, 26 (1): 69-90.

GREKSA, LP (2002) Population growth and fertility patterns in an Old Order Amish settlement. Annals of Human Biology, 29 (2): 192-201.

HELLE, S, LUMMAA, V, and JOKELA, J (2002) Sons reduced maternal longevity in preindustrial humans. Science, 296: 1085.

HENRIPIN, MJ (1954) La fécondité des ménages canadiens au début du XVIIIe siècle. Population, 9: 61-84.

HERN, WM (1994) Cultural change, polygyny, and fertility among the Shipibo of Peruvian Amazon. South American Indian Studies, 4: 77-86.

HILL, K and HURTADO, AM (1989) Hunther-gatherers of the New World. American Scientist, 77: 437-443.

HINDE, A (2002) Demographic perspectives on human population dynamics. En: Macbeth, H, and Collinson, P (Eds.) Human Population Dynamics: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives. Cambridge University Press, pp. 17-40. Cambridge.

HURTADO, AM, HAWKES, K, and HILL, K (1985) Female subsistence strategies among Ache hunter-gatherers of eastern Paraguay. Human Ecology, 13: 1-28.

HURTADO, AM, HILL, K, KAPLAN HS, and HURTADO, I (1992) Tradeoffs between female food acquisition and child care among Hiwi and Ache Foragers. Human Nature, 3 (3): 185-216.

KAPLAN, HS, and LANCASTER, JB (2004) An Evolutionary and ecological analysis of human fertility, mating patterns, and parental investment. En: Wachter, KW, and Bulatao, RA (Eds.) Offspring. Human Fertility Behaviour in Biodemographic Perspective. The National Academies Press, pp. 170-223. Washington, D.C.

KNODEL, J (1968) Infant mortality and fertility in three Bavarian villages: an analysis of familiy histories from the 19th century. Population Studies, 22: 297-318.

KREBS, JR and DABIES, NB (1993) An Introduction to Behavioural Ecology. Oxford. Blackwell.

LAWSON, DW, MACE, R (2009). Trade-offs in modern parenting; a longitudinal study of sibling competition for parental care. Evolution and Human Behaviour 37 (6): 1408-1421.

LEE, RB, and DE VORE, I (Eds) (1968) Man the Hunter. Chicago. Aldine Publishing Company.

LOOS, RJF, DEROM, C, EECKELS, R, DEROM, R and VLIETINCK, R, (2001) Length of gestation and birth weight in dizygotic twins. Lancet, 358: 560–561.

LOW, BS (1991) Reproductive life in nineteenth century Sweden: an evolutionary perspective on demographic phenomena. Ethology and Sociobiology, 12: 411-448.

LOW, BS (1993) Ecological demography. A synthetic focus in evolutionary anthropology. Evolutionary Anthropology, 1 (5): 177-187.

MACE, R (1996) Biased parental investment and reproductive success in Gabbra pastoralist. Behavioral Ecology & Sociobiology, 38: 75-81.

MACE, R (2000) Evolutionary ecology and human life history. Animal Behaviour, 59: 1-10.

MACE, R and SEAR, R (1997) Birth interval and the sex of children in a traditional African population: an evolutionary analysis. Journal of Biosocial Science, 29: 499-507.

MARSAL, K, PERSSON, PH, LARSEN, T, LILJA, H, SELBING, A and SULTAN, B (1996) Intrauterine growth curves based on ultrasonically estimated foetal weights. Acta Paediatrics, 85: 843–848.

MENDEZ, MG y FERRARINI, SO (2011) Intervalos entre nacimientos e inversión parental en aborígenes Chorote de Argentina. Memorias de la Convención Internacional de Antropología Anthropos 2011. II Congreso Iberoamericano de Antropología, pp. 2959-2976. La Habana, Cuba.

MILLER, EM (1994) Optimal adjustment of mating effort to enviromental conditions: a critique of Chisholm’s application of life history theory. Mankind Querterly, 34: 297-316.

NATH, DC and LAND, KC (1994) Sex preference and third birth interval in a traditional Indian society. Journal of Biosocial Science, 26: 377-388.

NATH, DC, LEONETTI, DL, and STEELE, MS (2000) Analysis of Barth intervals in a non-contracepting Indian population: an evolutionary ecology approach. Journal of Biosocial Science, 32: 343-354.

PASCUAL, J (2004) Caracterización de la historia reproductora y análisis de la fecundidad de las mujeres de Tierra del Fuego. Tesis. Universidad de Barcelona.

PEACOCK, N (1991) An evolutionary perspective on the patterning of maternal investment in pregnancy. Human Nature, 2: 351-385.

RODRIGUEZ OTERO, H, BLANCO VILLEGAS, MJ, CARO, L, SÁNCHEZ COMPADRE, E y LÓPEZ MARTÍNEZ, B (2000) Factores asociados a la fertilidad en la comarca leonesa de La Cabrera. En: Caro Dobón, L et al., (Eds.) Tendencias actuales de investigación en la Antropología Física Española. Universidad de León, pp. 273-280. España.

SHORT, RV (1994) Human reproduction in an evolutionary context. En: Campbell, KL, and Wood, JW (Eds.) Human Reproductive Ecology: interactions of environment, fertility, and behaviour. New York Academy of Sciences, pp. 416-425. New York.

SCOTT, S and DUNCAN, CJ (2000) Interacting effects of nutrition and social class differentials on fertility and infant mortality in a pre-industrial population. Population Studies, 54: 71-87.

SMITH, TE (1960) The Cocos-Keeling Islands: a demographic laboratory. Population Studies, 14: 94-130.

St.GEORGE, D, EVERSON, P, STEVENSON, JC and TEDROW, L (2000) Birth interval and early childhood mortality in a migrating Mennonite community. American Journal of Human Biology, 12: 50-63.

STOREY, R (1992) Life and Death in the Ancient City of Teotihuacan. A Modern Paleodemographic Synthesis. Alabama, USA. The University of Alabama Press.

TRIVERS, RL (1972) Parental investment and sexual selection. En: CAMPBELL, B (Eds.) Sexual Selection and the Descent of Man 1871 – 1971. Aldine, pp. 344-362. Chicago.

TRIVERS, RL and WILLARD, DE (1973) Natural selection of parental ability to vary the sex ratio offspring. Science, 179: 90-92.

TURKE, RL (1988) Helpers at the nest: chidcare networks in Ifaluk. En: BETZIG, L, BORGERHOFF MULDER, M and TURKE, P (Eds.) Human Reproductive Behaviour: a Darwinian Perspective. Cambridge University Press, pp. 173-188. Cambridge.

WELLS, JCK (2000) Natural selection and sex diferences in morbidity and mortality in early life. Journal Theoretical Biology, 202: 65-76.

WESTOFF, CF, POTTER, RG, SAGI, PC, and MISHLER, EG (1961) Family Growth in Metropolitan America. Princeton, NJ. Princeton University Press.

Similar Articles

<< < 1 2 3 4 5 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.