Principles of Biodemography with special reference to Human Longevity

Carey James R., Judge Debra S.-Principles of Biodemography with special reference to Human Longevity This paper describes a fundamental set of biodemographic "principles" concerned with senescence, mortality and longevity that were derived primarily (though not exclusively) from large scale life table studies of the Mediterranean fruit fly, a recently-published database on vertebrate life spans, and human longevity and fertility data on French-Canadian women in the 17th century. Subsequently human longevity is situated in a biodemographic context using the derived "principles" as well as the following related concepts: (i) comparative biodemography (i.e. humans as primates); (ii) proximate determinants of longevity; (iii) cost of reproduction; (iv) mortality and human growth phases; (v) kinship and life span; and (vi) the self-reinforcing nature of longevity extension. The paper ends with a brief discussion on how the emerging field of biodemography and traditional demography are mutually complementary.Carey J.R., Judge D. S. Principles of Biodemography with special reference to Human Longevity. In: Population, an English selection, 13ᵉ année, n°1, 2001. Biodemographic perspectives on human longevity. pp. 9-40