In fact, even human mortality trajectories, when considered from birth, do not show a paradigmatic monotonic rise in risk of mortality throughout life. Indeed there is a characteristic "bathtub shape" to human mortality from hunter-gatherer through modern populations, where the lowest risk of mortality is in the late teen years and there appears to be an observed mortality plateau at extremely old ages, although its meaning and origin are at issue. More people are now living to such extremely old ages; are they entering the plateau (Barbi et al. 2018)?
Fertility, mortality, morbidity schedules of populations reflect the aggregate of variation in individual trajectories. At issue for both human and nonhuman populations are the causes and consequences of variation in these trajectories within and among populations, species, and lineages.
Relevant research foci include sources of variability (genetic, epigenetic, environmental and stochastic) among individuals in mortality, fertility and morbidity schedules across the life cycle in both human and nonhuman populations. Included in the field of evolutionary demography as well are the relative roles of biological measurements and non-biological measurements (e.g. socioeconomic) on humans related to age, health, physical functioning, and fertility.
References
Barbi, E., Lagona, F., Marsili, M., Vaupel, J. W., & Wachter, K. W. (2018). The plateau of human mortality: Demography of longevity pioneers. Science, 360(6396), 1459-1461.
Carey, J. R. & Vaupel, J. W. 2019. Biodemography. In: Poston, D. & Micklin, M. (eds.) Handbook of Population. 2 ed. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
Gompertz, B. 1825. XXIV. On the nature of function expressive of the law of human mortality and on a new mode of determining the value of life contingencies. in a letter to Francis Baily. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. 1825 vol. 115 513-583.
Fertility, mortality, morbidity schedules of populations reflect the aggregate of variation in individual trajectories. At issue for both human and nonhuman populations are the causes and consequences of variation in these trajectories within and among populations, species, and lineages.
Relevant research foci include sources of variability (genetic, epigenetic, environmental and stochastic) among individuals in mortality, fertility and morbidity schedules across the life cycle in both human and nonhuman populations. Included in the field of evolutionary demography as well are the relative roles of biological measurements and non-biological measurements (e.g. socioeconomic) on humans related to age, health, physical functioning, and fertility.
References
Barbi, E., Lagona, F., Marsili, M., Vaupel, J. W., & Wachter, K. W. (2018). The plateau of human mortality: Demography of longevity pioneers. Science, 360(6396), 1459-1461.
Carey, J. R. & Vaupel, J. W. 2019. Biodemography. In: Poston, D. & Micklin, M. (eds.) Handbook of Population. 2 ed. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
Gompertz, B. 1825. XXIV. On the nature of function expressive of the law of human mortality and on a new mode of determining the value of life contingencies. in a letter to Francis Baily. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. 1825 vol. 115 513-583.