Molly Webster

Then you have one family member, your son, who does have your genes.

Those kids have your genes.

As you grow into an older female chimp.

Okay.

If you look at the larger group that the chimp female is part of.

Yeah, it's just how basic ecology works.

Right.

And so if you're this older female chimp and you're looking around, maybe there are like new young females that have just joined your family.

Oh.

So it's like Garbo and other older female chimps can contribute to the group and get a benefit themselves just by bowing out and doing their own thing.

Right.

That's cool.

Yeah, that makes sense, right?

Good theory.

Good theory.

Why, why, why?

Well, apparently, so this gets kind of like mathy and nitpicky, but Kevin says that the benefits of these older females bowing out, they like don't quite make up for the fact that they're like living these long, luxurious post-reproductive lives, like painting their nails and eating monkey meat.

So it's like maybe it doesn't quite work.

Damn it.

So is Kevin about to swoop in and be like, I've got my own hypothesis?