Life history is the
biological concept dealing with the character and
evolution of the
life cycle. It is a broad
theory (or
paradigm) used by evolutionary biologists to understand why
species develop in a particular manner.
Some examples of questions posed within the framework of this theory are:
- What determines the age and size at sexual maturity of a population?
- What determines the number and relative size of offspring?
- What determines the reproductive lifespan of an organisms, and the onset of senescence?
- To what extent are characteristics, such as those listed above, determined genotypically or expressed phenotypically as a result of environmental influences.