Shouldn’t they happen at around the same age?
In: 9
No one knows for certain.
It’s worth noting that the average year to begin puberty is only about a year apart, so they *do* happen around the same age. But there can be a lot of individual variance, which is influenced by all kinds of environmental and genetic (and, as we’re finding out, epigenetic) factors.
However, some theories include:
* Females have fewer opportunities to reproduce than males (due to pregnancy requiring a lot more time and bodily resources), so their window in which to do it needs to begin sooner than males to raise the chance of having more healthy babies.
* Pubescing slightly earlier encourages reproduction with males that are slightly older and have had more time to build the skills and abilities for survival.
* It usually takes some time after the initial onset of puberty to actually be capable of producing children. In girls, this requires more metabolic energy and physical development than boys, so puberty needs to begin earlier for girls to kick off that process so they have a better chance of being more or less equal with boys by the time it’s physically safe to bear children (roughly late adolescence).
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