Eli5: Why are humans (almost) the only creature without a mating season?
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Anthropologists theorise that this might be so that human females can use sex as a bartering chip to create a strong bond and ensure the continued support and cooperation of the male throughout the long child rearing process.
The purpose of a mating season is so that offspring are born during optimum times; whether that be plentiful food, fewer predators around, ect.
As humans have shaped our environment, we have ensured food is available and offspring are safe (relatively speaking).
Unlike many mammals, we do not hibernate in the winter.
Second, out of all the months, the greatest number of births are August and sometimes July. So humans are slightly seasonal.
I don’t believe chimpanzees or other great apes have mating seasons either. Mating seasons are for when you need to make sure babies are born at the right time, like when it’s snowy and dead for part of the year and babies need to be born in spring. Great apes and humans evolved much closer to the equator and babies can be born year round without suffering much.
Herd animals like to have mating seasons bc having a whole generation of babies at once time is better for their survival strategies. In groups of like 10-50 people like great apes have, it could be better to have babies spread out over the year, because raising them is more work and involves help from family members.
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